Endicott Pride

It’s that time of year again! It won’t snow again until next winter (hopefully), the birds are chirping, the grass is green, and the leaves are back. It’s the perfect time for Dr. Wylie’s famous end of the year barbeque, where students can eat and relax before the horror of finals comes along. The barbeque is all about school spirit, and school spirit is what Endicott is all about.

In December of 2011, I knew that Endicott College would be my future home. The reasons why I chose this school are endless. But one important reason was school spirit. I took a total of three long and tiring tours, and at each tour I saw many students wearing their Endicott gear. Some students wore the word “Endicott” on their sweatshirts or pants; others had pinnies saying “Gull Hard or Go Home”, and more had t-shirts saying “Gull Nation.” But it doesn’t stop there. When walking around campus, gulls are all around, both in obvious spots and hidden ones. You can just tell that the students are proud to attend this college and they love being gulls. Even on my first tour, I felt so overcome by school spirit that I even bought a sweatshirt. But I didn’t want my school spirit to end there. At orientation, I bought three sweatshirts and two t-shirts.

 I am about to finish my freshman year of college, and I still wear all of my Endicott gear with pride. But my collection won’t stop there. During the next three years of college, I plan to buy a lot more Endicott clothing and souvenirs. After college, I will still wear my Endicott gear because I love Endicott and everything it offers, so I will show the world with pride that I am a gull.

One man who will always be known as the King of Endicott Pride is Dr. Richard Wylie. He became Endicott’s fifth president in 1987, and is going on his 26^th year. He is very involved with the Endicott College community.  He is a very hands-on President. It is clear to see that he loves what he does, and he treats his students as if they were family. He has transformed Endicott from a two-year women’s school to a 2,300 co-educational undergraduate college. The college also has 2,500 graduate students, too.

Dr. Wylie is very passionate about Endicott’s academic offerings. Over 90% of the degree programs that are now available at Endicott College did not even exist in the late 1980’s. He has helped the college literally expand—it’s now double the size it was in the late 1990s! Dr. Wylie knows how to bring Endicott College community together and make us one. He handles any situation with ease and wants to make the college and students as successful as possible. He is no doubt the most caring and loving man on this campus and I’m sure that he will continue to expand the college and make Endicott even better.

Dr. Wylie and the students wearing Endicott gear are not the only ones who show spirit. The students also display their pride and school spirit though many events, but the one that is most fun is “Mr. Endicott.” Mr. Endicott takes place at the end of the academic year in the Wax Auditorium. People line up out of the building to get into the event, and this year it became so crowded that people had to stand in the back or sit in the aisles. But it was worth it.

Mr. Endicott is a beauty pageant for boys, basically. After being selected, each one of the men goes through intensive training in such competitive categories as swimsuit, evening attire, talent, and Q&A. Most of the contestants are deliberately funny and don’t think of this as competition, but just for fun.

Some people make up funny t-shirts to support their candidate. One shirt said, “Devon is my roommate.” Others had signs for their favorites. The rest of the audience, including myself, didn’t need shirts or signs to show their love. All they needed were their voices. All the girls would scream and all the guys fist pumped and hooted. Even though my two favorites didn’t win, I went back to my dorm happy and hoarse.

All of this love and support is shown at the barbeque, too, but not as loud. As I walked into the barbeque with my two roommates, I first noticed how crowded it was. At least 150 students roamed around Dr. Wylie’s front and back yard. The smell of hamburgers and hotdogs sizzled on the grill and filled the air. As I approached the sundae bar, I turned around and noticed a guy who was dressed in Endicott gear from top to bottom. He had an Endicott hat, sweatshirt, and sweatpants. I have never seen someone wear so much Endicott gear before! I quickly approached him and learned that his name was David, and he was a sophomore at Endicott. When I asked why he was so spirited, he simply cheered, “I’m a gull. Being a gull is awesome.” Even though that was a typical boy response, it still made me smile. It never will cease to amaze me how passionate the students are about Endicott.

As I looked around just trying to notice what people were wearing, I saw one of my good friends, Rachelle, who is a freshman. She stood out because of her bright outfit. She had a neon shirt with bright neon sweatpants. She was different from everyone else because she wasn’t wearing Endicott gear. When I asked her why, she said, “Don’t get me wrong, I love Endicott with all of my heart. But I don’t feel like wearing any Endicott clothing tonight.” Again, I asked her why she didn’t want to wear Endicott clothing to the last barbeque of the year, and she smiled and said, “I’m not in the best mood, so I guess you can say that affects my school spirit. I don’t think that makes any sense, but I think you understand what I mean.” When I looked down at Rachelle’s shirt, on the front it said “He loves me,” and on the back it said “He loves me not.” This is one instance where Rachelle wore her love life on herself. She is choosing to tell Endicott College about her love life through the words she wore.

After I ate my hotdog and moved to get some ice cream, I ran into another freshman named Stacy. While holding her vanilla ice cream cup with rainbow sprinkles, Stacy was showing her Endicott pride through her sweatshirt. It had the small Endicott logo on the upper left side. What made her sweatshirt unique were the stitched words underneath the logo that read, “School of Hospitality Management.” Stacy said, “I wear this sweatshirt a lot. Not only because it’s super comfortable, but because it represents my major. Everybody loves hospitality majors!”

My roommate, Kayla Scheffler, decided to wear her hockey sweatshirt to the barbecue. Even though she doesn’t go to any hockey games or know many hockey players, she decided to get the sweatshirt in the beginning of the year since she didn’t have any Endicott apparel. When I asked Kayla about her Endicott pride, she stated, “Endicott is like my second home. I love the people here, the professors, and the school pride.” After talking for a bit, we got on the topic of Endicott’s pride. “Our school pride is huge. Not to mention, there are so many people on campus who wear Endicott clothing every day. You seriously don’t go a day without seeing anyone wearing clothes that have something to do with Endicott. I mean, look around at this barbecue. So many people are representing Endicott right now!”

Kayla couldn’t be more correct. There were groups of people all over the backyard standing around wearing Endicott sweatshirts and coats. It was clear to see that the students loved Endicott and everything about it, including these yummy barbecues. However, I stood out like a sore thumb. I brought all of my Endicott sweatshirts home the other weekend. Ironically, I wore a Northeastern sweatshirt to the barbeque. Not only did I end up walking right in front of Dr. Wylie, but also he called me out on my sweatshirt. He laughed said, “I am a bit insulted that you wore another college sweatshirt and had the dignity to walk into my house with it on!” Oops!  

Kayla Scheffler

Stacy Castelli