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2 Some distinguishing features 3 Sports 4 Williams's reputation 5 External links |
History
Williams College was chartered in 1793. Williams claims that the first alma mater song written by an undergraduate, "The Mountains," was written by Washington Gladden, class of 1859 and that their team played Amherst College in the first intercollegiate baseball game, in 1859.
Williams has a traditional rivalry with Amherst College's Lord Jeffs.
Williams is one of the "Little Three", along with Wesleyan and Amherst.
Some distinguishing features
Williams Trivia
At the end of every semester since 1966, the Williams College radio station has hosted an all-night, 8-hour trivia contest. Teams of students, alumni, professors and others compete to answer questions on any number of subjects, identify songs, and perform a variety of unnecessary tasks. The winning team's only prize is the obligation to create and host the following semester's contest. It is the oldest continuous competition of its sort in the United States. Further history and details are available at an archival website:
" class="external">http://wso.williams.edu/orgs/trivia/
Purple Cow
The Williams college mascot is a purple cow, possibly derived either from Gelett Burgess's nonsense poem:
I never saw a purple cow
The other possible source of the mascot is the color of the surrounding mountains.
Nor do I hope to see one;
But I can tell you, anyhow,
I'd rather see than be one.
Sports
The school's sports teams are called the Ephmen, or the Ephs. They participate in the NCAA's Division III and the New England Small College Athletic Conference.