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Do you believe?

Danielle Hacet

Ten months into their courtship in 1985, John Gant walked Janis Worst to an exam - and just as he was about to give her a good luck kiss, they realized they were under Upham Arch.

They froze. Both Miami University sophomores knew the story: "If you kissed under Upham Arch when the light was on, you would get married," Worst said.

John ended up proposing over winter break their senior year. Eighteen years of marriage and four kids later, Janis laughs when she looks back on how superstitious they were.

John and Janis Gant are not alone in taking the Upham Arch theory to heart.

Many Miami students currently believe in the stories that have helped to make the campus unique, according to Office of Admission tour guide manager Jill Burya.

"It adds pride to Miami's campus," Burya said. "It adds something to the tour."

The stories tied to the Upham Arch, the bronze-cast Miami Seal on Academic quad and the Armillary Sundial on Central quad are well known across campus.

Most universities have random traditions, but these are unique to Oxford and people like intricate stories, Burya explained.

And according to Miami archivist Bob Schmidt, most of the origins of such stories remain unknown.

"(Former Miami President Phillip) Shriver has said the tradition of (Upham) Arch was here when he came, but it wasn't as well known, so the exact start date was sometime between 1949 and 1965," Schmidt said.

The stories are re-told to the approximately 29,000 people who visit Miami's Office of Admission each year, according to assistant director of admission Kristine Taylor.

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And the stories are passed along in more ways than just word-of-mouth.

The stories are discussed in a manual, compiled by a member of the admission staff, who completed the president emeritus and professor of history Phillip Shriver's History of Miami course. Taylor said the manual is updated each year by the Office of Admission, and the superstition stories remain in from year to year.

The legends are also kept alive in Shriver's book, Miami University: A Personal History, published in 1988.

Schmidt thinks Miami pride has something to do with these stories.

"I suppose in part we tend to take a great deal of pride in our tradition and it's important and it's reflected in the legends there has always been a sort of history of Miami written as stories," Schmidt said.

A midnight kiss

Arguably the most well known of all the Miami superstitions is the renowned kiss under Upham Arch that supposedly results in marriage.

"If they go to Upham Arch at midnight and kiss under the light, they're destined to get married and become Miami Mergers," Burya explains to tours across campus.

The statistics from Miami's alumni association seem to support this superstition.

Nationally only three percent of married couples attended the same college. Miami, however, has a 16 percent rate of Miami mergers - one of the leading rates nationwide. All of the mergers are kept in touch with the university through a Valentine's Day card they receive from the association each year.

Miami Mergers aren't the only ones professing their love under the arch.

Junior Brad Gaertner, whose girlfriend attends Lee University in Tennessee, popped the question under the arch earlier this past March.

And although Gaertner claims he doesn't believe in superstitions, he said he thought the gesture would be sweet.

"I know that she knows the tradition," Gaertner said. "I thought it would be a cute thing to do."

Watch that step

"If you are to step on the seal, you will fail your next exam," Burya tells prospective Miami students on tours across campus, as they cross the bronze-cast seal of the university, completed at the Hub in 1969.

Schmidt finds it interesting that by 1984, rumors were already being dispelled about stepping on the seal.

"In the April 10, (1984) issue of The Student, (Phillip) Shriver discounted the belief that the superstition about walking on the seal was started by university officials who wanted to keep students from stepping on the seal and wearing out the brass center," Schmidt said.

Shriver said, "it gnaws me to walk on the seal - it represents the university ... walking across it would desecrate it."

The failure of a student's next exam was also reported in the 1998 Recenscio.

Schmidt admits that even he has stepped on the seal.

In the 1984 story, the legend was that the bad luck only applied to first-year students on their first exam. This would explain why the tour guides warn prospective students about stepping on the bronze object.

This change is a perfect example of a how legend mature and acquire characteristics, according to Schmidt.

With or without exams, not everyone takes the superstitions seriously.

"It's more of a fun tradition rather than an actual superstition," Gaertner said.

Gaertner doesn't believe in superstitions, but chooses not to step on the seal most of time out of respect. He claims to have never failed an exam after stepping on it.

Others haven't been so lucky.

Junior Sae Chung used to step on the seal during his first year at Miami. In fact, he said he stepped on it "too many times."

For him the superstition held true. He claims to have failed several exams after walking on the seal.

This year, as a junior, he had a similar experience with the seal, but he claimed it wasn't his fault.

"It was a snowy day and I had an exam," Chung said.

Chung didn't see the seal, and the superstition proved to be true in his case as he failed his exam.

Janis, who attended Miami in the 1980s, never once stepped on the seal in her four years as an undergraduate.

"That was always a huge taboo," she said. "I don't think I ever saw anyone step on it."

Senior Robbie Link, followed the don't-step-on-the-seal rule until recently, laughed while recounting his story about jumping on the seal while a tour group was going by.

"I don't know why I did it," Link said. "I respected the tradition until (recently). It's ludicrous to think the seal will change your grade on an exam."

Some friendly turtles

The Armillary Sundial on Central quad, installed in 1962 and given to Miami from the Delta Delta Delta sorority, has a bit more upbeat superstition surrounding it.

"People should rub the turtles' heads and they will receive an 'A' on their next exam," Burya said.

The armillary sundial is a precision instrument designed for it's exact location of latitude 39 degrees 30 minutes 27 seconds north, longitude 84 degrees 55 minutes and five seconds west. The turtles that support the sphere are emblems of eternity, according to the October 1986 issue of the Alumnus.

Some students do rub the turtles' heads below the bronze dial religiously.

Hamilton learned about the good luck the turtles could bring during a tour her junior year of high school.

"I rubbed them for good luck on exams a lot last year," Hamilton said, adding that the sundial was often on her way to classes from her residence in Minnich Hall.

Yet, there aren't students lining up around the sundial, though.

"Rubbing turtle heads does nothing," Chung said.

Many students and alumni still believe in the traditions and superstitions unique to Miami.

"I've talked to people that have said this campus is much more into traditions and legends than you would necessarily into traditions and legends than other campuses," said Schmidt.

He said it seems as though the way Miami history has been written embodies an aspect of looking at the past as something that is not merely a composition of events. It seems as if Miami's history has always done so and it makes for good reading.

"The traditions grow over time and eventually they just become like they always were here," Schmidt said.

Additional repor ting provided by Chelsey Telliard.


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