No ships will sail across the Slayton Arboretum pond this fall.
The yearly naval battle between Galloway and Simpson Residences in the arboretum has been cancelled because of construction.
Cravats and Bluestockings, the campus group that originally invented the naval battle, reached out to the Biology department—which runs the arb—to request hosting the naval battle once more.
“They said no,” said Cravats and Bluestockings President Audrey Gray.
“Changes that were made to the arboretum are still ongoing,” according to Director of Slayton Arboretum and Associate Professor of Biology Ranessa Cooper.
“I said no this year because the area is still essentially under construction,” Cooper said. “The grassy areas have been seeded and need time to recover, which is why we have the area roped off. I will have to evaluate whether this is a go next year for the group, as we now have submerged aeration mechanisms in the pond.”
While the unavailability of the pond is unfortunate for all yearning to duke it out, Gray said she hopes to continue the tradition in the spring, provided that permission is granted then.
Despite the disappointing news, Gray said her group was initially still determined to coordinate an alternative battle in the immediate future.
“We have been trying pretty hard to come up with something,” Gray said. “We looked at the muddy waters over by the IM fields. We talked about Lake Baw Beese, but neither of those are feasible options so in the end, we decided we’re going to try again the spring because we’d love to still host the naval battle.”
The naval battle has been a fun way for freshmen to get plugged into the campus spirit early on in their school careers, Galloway resident assistant and sophomore Colton Gilbert said. But even in the face of the letdown, he tries to look at the positive side.
“I’m disappointed that we won’t get to amass an army of ships to crush anyone who wishes to call themselves Simpsonites,” Gilbert said. “But at least [freshmen] won’t have the pressure of jumping into that nasty, parasitic filth.”
While the battle has only been around for five years, it has generated many spirited spectators, Gray said.
“It was started by past members of Cravats and Bluestockings, because they had these cardboard boat races,” Gray said. “They thought it would be really cool to do it at the arb and they would market it as a period naval battle and people loved it.”
Assistant Dean of Men Jeffery Rogers has officiated at the naval battle for the past couple of years, providing some historical commentary and pep talks for the combatants.
The pond may be inaccessible, but Rogers said he believes the real solution to continuing the war is student initiative.
“I think it’s not happening because we don’t have people like Soren Geiger and Richard Norris,” Rogers said. “I mean, those guys were crazy and they were never even in the Navy. I think students have fun with [the battle]. It’s fun camaraderie. They can still do it if they want to do it.”
Some students are still not giving up. Galloway RA and sophomore Dominic Restuccia has been trying to get in touch with Cravats and Bluestockings to talk about potentially hosting the battle at Lake Winona instead.
“I’m working on it still,” Restuccia said. “People definitely want to have the naval battle again, and I’m going to try to make that happen, but I just don’t know for sure yet when it will happen.”