Rowing

An excerpt from Chapter 5:

"In addition to the Boating Club, a Social Rowing Club was also established in 1867, and boasted fifteen members. At the time, boating was the near equal of baseball in popularity. The boating club was founded 'for the physical, as well as the mental education of its members, both in the art of rowing and sailing. The beautiful lakes described in the prospectus of this catalogue sufficiently indicate that pleasure accompanies this branch of education.' The first two boats, or barges as they were appropriately called, were the four-oared Santa Maria and the Pinta. Annual races were held on St. Edward’s Day and during Commencement.

The focus of the Social Rowing Club was often recreation rather than competition, and crews rowed downstream twelve miles to Niles, MI, stopping on the way for a picnic lunch. Upon reaching their destination, the club members would board a train, placing their boats aboard as well, for the return to campus."