49) June 28, 1888: Commencement Day: Completing his Second Division studies is Hugh Augustine Gaynor. After graduation, he would join the Society of Jesus and return to Fordham in the 1910s as a German and rhetoric teacher. During his tenure at Rose Hill, Fr. Gaynor would also compose the words of“ Alma Mater, Fordham,” still sung at every Prep graduation.
50) Fall 1888: Joseph A. Faye, Class of 1889, establishes the Holy Childhood Book Pound( for Wayward Tomes and Articles)— in other words, the Prep ' s first lost-and-found. Faye’ s suggested donation for reuniting an owner with his lost item: one penny.
1890s
51) September 1890: Second Division students return to school to find the construction of Junior Hall— as Hughes Hall was originally known— nearly complete. Within a few weeks, all Second Division dorms and classrooms are transferred to the new building, and Hughes Hall becomes the home of Fordham Prep for the next eight decades
52) May 30, 1891: With Lt. Clarence Edwards as their commandant, the St. John’ s College Cadet Corps, Prep students are among them, marches in the Decoration Day Parade in Manhattan. Lt. Edwards would rise to the rank of brigadier general and became a decorated hero in World War I. Edwards Parade, Rose Hill’ s large central field stretching from Hughes Hall to Keating Hall, is named in his honor.
53) June 24, 1891: The Nativity of St. John the Baptist: The Prep and University, still together known as St. John ' s College, celebrate their shared Golden Jubilee. A major part of the celebration is the dedication of the statue of Archbishop Hughes which still stands on Campus today.
54) 1893: As the story goes, at an Army-Fordham game in 1893, the Fordham students come up with a cheer,“ One dam, two dam, three dam— Fordham!” Because of objections by school authorities to the similarity( deliberate or accidental) to the word damn, it is eventually changed to ram—“ One ram, two ram, three ram, Fordham!” And so, the Fordham Ram is born.
55) December 13, 1893: The Feast of St. Lucy: On a beautiful cold, clear day, the administration cancels all classes and declares a Skating Holiday. Prep boys spend the day skating on the Rose Hill Pond, an area today occupied by the University Parking Lot.
56) February 16, 1894: George Rooney, Class of 1895, is knocked unconscious and“ nearly broke his neck and back, and crushed his skull” on the toboggan slide set up on campus for student use during the winter months. Within the hour, a schoolwide proclamation goes out banning tobogganing. As far as we can tell, that ban is technically still in effect at Rose Hill to this day.
57) February 23, 1894: Prep boarding students are permitted to stay up late to watch what is recorded as“ an unusual exhibition of the Aurora Borealis” that begins after supper and lasts all night.
58) May 4, 1895: During the Columbia Games held at Columbia Oval in the Bronx, J. Francis Quinlan and Gerald J. Barry, both Prep Class of 1895, become the first known Second Divisioners to participate in an interscholastic track competition. Quinlan takes first in the 100-yard dash, and Barry, third in pole vault.
59) June 27, 1895: Last day of the 1894-1895 School Year. With the departure of the Prep boarding students for the summer, the assistant prefect records in the Second Division log:“ Last boy gone— AMEN!”
60) October 31, 1898: All Hallows Eve: Halloween activities include ducking for apples( in some of which were hidden coins), lighting bonfires and roasting apples.
61) December 2, 1898: Prep students play their first recoded intramural basketball game.
32 | RAMVIEW
1900s
62) March 20, 1901: Boarding student Andrew Heide, Prep Class of 1901, dies of