Ok so we have all done dumb things in our lives. I'm no exception. I mean part of growing up, especially while attending college, are the choices you make. The opportunity presents itself, and you either act or your choose not to. While my list of "acts I regret" is much longer than one incident, I thought it might be fun to recount the dumbest of the dumb acts in my college years.
So is was a cold January night and one of my pledge brothers and I were walking back from KAMS, a popular Campustown watering hole headed for my apartment. We may have had a few too many, although certainly at this point in my life I can honestly say I don't recall having been "under the influence." It's highly probable though.
One of our local fraternities, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, has a grand staircase leading from the sidewalk to their front door. Sitting on either side of the staircase are beautiful sculptures of lions similar to the photo above. Apparently the lion is one of their honored fraternal symbols. Certainly these two sculptures had sat on their perch overlooking Daniels Street for many a year.
It was common practice in those days for other fraternities and sororities to "decorate" the lions. On any given morning you might find them painted a new color, adorned with clothing, both outer and under wear or covered in the previous night's meal offerings. They were certainly attention getter's for many who lived in the neighborhood.
So on this late January evening, my pledge brother Bill and I were walking by the stately lions only to find that one had been knocked off it's perch. The fall had damaged the lion, breaking off one of the paws. I'm certain our natural instincts of preserving fine art must have kicked in, or something to that effect, and we decided in one of our more brilliant moments to rescue the fallen lion!
I remember it was heavy, very heavy...and rather than carry it three blocks to my apartment we chose to carry it one block to our chapter house. There we nurtured it's wounds, applied the appropriate medicines and bandaged the fallen idol, or we threw it in the chapter room, I'm not really sure which. Either way, in the morning it was in the chapter room.
When our fellow brothers came back from winter break we were certainly applauded for our bravery. However our chapter president, being of sound mind and values, insisted we remove it from the chapter room. "Trouble" was his fear. As the lion was broken, returning it would only lead to punishment. Of that we were certain. So again, in another brilliant move, we loaded it into the back of a car and permanently entombed it in a dumpster behind County Market. It may still be there some 35 years later.
Time passed, I graduated and went to work in Detroit, and I really hadn't given that night much thought. And then, Bill called. SAE found out that we had taken the lion and guess what? They wanted it replaced. In another of life's important lessons, I learned that you can't replace just one lion. As the first one was over 50 years old, finding a second that matched was impossible. So both needed replacing. Bill informed me the invoice was $3000. We split the cost and replaced the lions. A noble thing to do I'm sure. (But perhaps the threat of arrest was more influential than nobility).
So as I pass the front entrance of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity on the corner of Third and Daniels in Campustown I am reminded of my misgivings on a regular basis. And while I feel a sense of ownership for these lions, (I claim to own the one on the left), I am also reminded that "preserving fine works of art" should be left the the professionals!
