"Peggy" Read '39

The hooprolling of 1939 will live on as the most interesting hooprolling race ever. Ned Read, president of the Harvard Lampoon, was the first male to enter and win the race.

" Partially on a dare from his friends, Ned joined the line of seniors at 7:25 am, five minutes before the race began. When seniors who had been waiting for some time voiced complaints, he quietly claimed his little sister was saving his place. After winning the race, he was awarded the bridal bouquet by the class president, who was eyeing the winner doubtfully. 'Peggy' pointed to a young man on the sidelines as her fiance, as photographers clicked away."

--Arlene Cohen '94

However, his wig fell off and the seniors barraged the poor Harvard junior and threw him into Lake Waban. As Arlene Cohen tells the tale in Hoops, Trees, and Steps: The Role of Traditions at Wellesley College, "President McAfee proclaimed in the chapel service after this historic hooprolling, 'I think you have made history this morning. Never before have Wellesley women banded together for such a purpose [as tossing a man into the lake].'" Today, during stepsinging, students relive the excitement of that spring day in the song "Ballad of a Bold Bad Man."

After Ned Read's adventure, men from a number of schools competed with each other to run as the imposter male in the annual race and to be thrown into the lake. It became an honor of sorts, as the male "winner" was featured alongside the Wellesley winner in newspapers across the nation. The hooprolling itself continues to make syndicated news wires.