That Friday evening, all Clarkson students gathered around the bonfire for a pep rally
directed by "Red" Bretschneider and his crew of assistants. Freshmen were required to wear
pajamas as was the custom. Shortly before nine o'clock, as the bonfire had turned to embers, the
students marched on the Rialto theater for a free showing of a movie, a football picture,
Start
Cheering
. Despite the next afternoon's loss to St. Lawrence 7-0, the Varsity C hosted a dance in
the gym from 8:30 to 11:30.
Unusual Freshman.
Hilding Johnson, a native of Sweden, joined the ranks of Clarkson
freshmen in September, and graduated in 1942 with a major in chemistry. He was considered to
be unusual because he had come to the United States when he was 10 years old, and learned
English in his first two years in this country. In only eight years he had completed the 12 grades
to graduate from high school at the top of his class of 450 students, and had accomplished this
unusual feat while also serving as vice president of his school's government, and playing on the
tennis and track teams.
