The Class of ’11 consisted of 45 men and four women, who hailed from all corners of the East Coast, from Waterville, Maine to Montclair, New Jersey.

No, this is not the class of 2011. It is the Class of 1911, the 100-year-old ancestor of next year’s Wesleyan class. When the Class of ’11 arrived on campus in the fall of 1907, older students and faculty remarked at the unusually small size of the class.

“The number of freshmen who have registered this year has fallen considerably below the average for the past few years,” reads an article from the Argus on Oct. 2, 1907.

The tuition for the year was $90 with an additional $50 for “incidentals,” including the use of the library and the reading rooms.

Though the Class of 1911 was required to take a tough course load, including classes in Public Speaking, Ancient Greek, and Mathematics, they soon learned that there were more important aspects of college life than studying.

“Even in our earliest days, we realized, ‘A little flunking now and then/Will happen to the best of men,’” wrote members of the Class of 1911 in their senior yearbook, the Olla Podrida.

Indeed, members of the Class of 1911 engaged in a wide variety of extracurricular activities. The vast majority of the members of the class joined of one of the eight fraternities, including DKE, Psi U, Beta, Alpha Delt and Eclectic.

Rooms in the fraternity houses cost around $50 per year, and dorm rooms in Foss House, the dorm on Foss Hill, cost about the same price.

Debate society, glee club, and secret societies also occupied much of the students’ time. In addition to the still active Skull and Serpent and Mystical Seven, the Corpse and Coffin was another well-known secret society on campus.

Though many members of the Class of 1911 were enthusiastic about school sports—many students were on teams—they were not the best of athletes.

In late October 1907, the freshman football team played New Haven High School and lost.

“The freshmen were considerably outweighed, but played a plucky game,” reported the Argus.

The baseball team had a tough season, as well, with four wins and 11 losses. According to the Argus, it was the most erratic baseball team that the University had ever produced.

The Class of 1911 did, however, show glimmers of the Wesleyan spirit of activism that finds such notoriety today. In May of 1910, the student government, led by the Class of 1911, abolished hazing.

“Sophomore societies are a thing of the past,” wrote class president Franklin S. Garman ’11 in an Argus article.

At their graduation, commencement speaker William R. Montgomery spoke of the importance of a strong community.

“He spoke of the love of Wesleyan graduates for Wesleyan,” read an Argus article recapping the graduation exercises.

The Class of 1911 embodied this love for the University. Upon their graduation, they gave gifts to students from other classes. To the juniors, the seniors gave a framed question mark. The sophomores received a “gold” ring and the freshmen got eight dolls in striped suits “as souvenirs of the cannonball escapade.”

Members of the Class of 1911 celebrated the end of the year with the typical zesty spirit of the class. At their senior picnic, students participated in games such as the “cork pulling contest,” “pretzel throw,” and “booze fight.” The games were all in good fun, as winners received bottles of beer as prizes.