Letters: Choking on the Campaign Trail

Your Flashback photo in the Summer 2009 issue brought back a flood of memories.

I was a Mack House resident when I ran for Dorm Duke as “Hopalong Eichenbaum.” It was either 1950 or 1951. The highlight of my campaign was being hanged from a tree in front of the dining hall. Fellow students went to Truax Airfield to fetch a parachute harness, which was concealed under my cowboy outfit, and the hangman’s rope was threaded through the harness and out my shirt collar. I was lifted onto the hood of a red convertible parked under a tree, motor running. Amid cheers and applause, the car slowly backed up and left me dangling. Regrettably, the noose got caught in the harness straps and began choking me. (My struggles were applauded as acting skill.) Luckily, I survived. The next day, after the votes were counted, my campaign managers tossed me into Lake Mendota. I had won.

Ken Eichenbaum ’53

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Published in the Fall 2009 issue