The Return of the Purple Knights

Though it seems way too early, today was the day St. Michael's College dorms opened for the fall semester. Right at the campus main entrance, a bunch of upperclassmen stood out by the curb, boisterously displaying posters welcoming the students back.

Driving by the scene, I thought, How sweet is this? What a wonderful gesture by the older students. Imagine arriving as an incoming freshman, your parents in the front seat, you in the back teeming with excitement and apprehension. The first thing you see when you approach the campus is a glee club laying out the welcome mat. I made a mental note to come back and take pictures for the YoHackie blog.

When I returned 30 minutes later, there were two police cars, a wrecked car and an ambulance blocking the left lane of Route 15 right at the college entrance. The welcoming committee had rolled up their posters and were standing around slightly depressed. Though it was a pretty nasty accident, no one had been seriously injured. But the fun was clearly over.

I parked and moseyed over to ask a few of the kids, notwithstanding the damper on the whole day, if they wouldn't mind showing off the posters for a couple pictures. Graciously, they agreed, and even managed to muster of few low-key smiles, to boot. Go, Purple Knights!