The origins of the St. Pat's festivities at MSOE are somewhat clouded. The tradition of engineers celebrating of St. Patrick's apparently started around the turn the century at the University of Missouri at Rolla. It is believed that the first celebration at MSOE was held in the early 1930's. In decades past, MSOE was operated in a very controlled manner. St. Pat's Week was a chance for both faculty and students to let loose. This week was chosen as the time for the festivities because St. Patrick is said to be the patron saint of engineers. The activities in the "old" days have been passed down by word of mouth and hence are historically suspect, but that is the stuff of legends. Right?
Anyway, a common theme of old is that St. Pat "ran" the school after noon on Friday of St. Pat's Week. St. Pat and the court would cancel classes and would hold court, various faculty members' "crimes and transgressions" would be read, their ties would be cut off, and fraternity members would put on skits in which students would perform impressions of the faculty. According to alumni from that era, what made St. Pat's so much fun was the spirit of cooperation between faculty, staff and students. As one alumnus said, "The trials weren't vindictive. Faculty were asked to participate, and those that chose to, did." All involved had a great time. Faculty participation was high, as was the school spirit.
In order to increase the spirit, a group of faculty members eventually organized. They would attempt to make life difficult for St. Pat. Best remembered from that era was one St. Pat's celebration during the 1960's, when the faculty group kidnapped St. Pat, dressed him in orange underwear, placed him in a cage on the back of a pickup truck, and paraded him up and down State Street.
In the early 1970's, the St. Pat's festivities began to change. Many St. Pat's participants took their role a bit too seriously. What had been a fun time turned into an event marred by vindictiveness. The St. Pat's activity became an excuse to "get a professor who flunked me." Faculty participation dropped off dramatically. Disrespectful and sometimes vandalistic acts were committed which virtually destroyed the former spirit of the event.
Sometime during the era, rival fraternity members formed an "Orange Army." The term Orange is believed to have been chosen in reference to its association with Northern Ireland, whose loyalty is to the throne of England. The orange is symbolically opposed to the green (St. Pat's color), which is associated with the Republic of Ireland. The Orange Army would battle St. Pat and his court as well as commit some of the aforementioned acts. The event was spirited, but in an uncontrolled and chaotic way.
As the 1980's progressed, social pressures forced changes in the St. Pat's celebration. The 21-year-old drinking age curtailed the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Student spirit also dropped as some of the event's history faded. During the later 1980's, St. Pat and his court were involved in some incidents which almost caused the St. Pat's celebrations to be halted. It was St. Pat's darkest hour.
After a probationary year, the resurrection of the former spirit of the St. Pat's celebration was initiated by Professor Golembiewski of ME, a MSOE alumnus (ME ‘80, MSEM ‘83). The goal was to reestablish the fun and cooperative spirit between students, faculty and staff, as "Orange Leader," he recruited a fellow alumnus, Professor Strangeway (ET-E ‘79), aka "Second in Orange," and the two developed the idea of a faculty and staff "Orange" organization.
This group, then known as "The Loyal Order of the Orange," has tried to prevent the signing of the Proclamation every St. Pat's since 1989. The Proclamation gives St. Pat the authority to rule over MSOE and selectively dismiss classes on that Friday afternoon of St. Pat's Week. When they made their initial appearance in 1989, "The Orange" totally surprised everyone at the signing except President Spitzer and Dean Coffey. St. Pat was made to wear a sash bearing the "I-STIGMA-GOTTA" until 30 ties were collected from the MSOE community. A feat that was accomplished later that day.
In subsequent years, "The Orange" has kidnapped various people and held them ransom until St. Pat would agree to cut an increasing number of ties to be allowed to ascend to his throne. The most memorable was the kidnapping of Dr. Spitzer and his being spirited away to captivity in Australia. After the deal was struck, he not only faxed his signature for the proclamation, but his tie as well!
In 1992, "The Orange" ran their first candidate—The Wise Old O'Range Man—and St. Pat and his court turned the tables by doing the kidnapping. Unfortunately for them, there had been a coup in "The Orange," and they weren't interested in redeeming either Orange Leader or Second in Orange.
By 1998, new forces were at work within the Loyal order of the Orange. A group of Far Darrig (pronounced fear dearg and meaning Red Men) infiltrated the order. These pranksters can be identified by their outrageous red (and often orange) clothing. They amuse themselves by playing practical jokes on MSOE students, staff and faculty during the week of St. Patrick's Day.
Thus far, St. Pat and his (or her) Court have met every test put to them and have successfully blocked all attempts by the Loyal Order of the Orange and the Far Darrig to prevent the Proclamation signing. But then, there's always next year...