Do you know the history of the Mound?

April 27, 2022 9:00am

The college’s nickname, “Moundbuilders,” (frequently shortened to just “Builders”) has inspired the creation of a large pile of rocks on the college campus, called “The Mound.” At the beginning of each school year, the “Moundbuilding Ceremony” allows students, faculty, clubs, and guests of Southwestern College to place a rock on the Mound. Participants are invited to decorate their rocks with paint, and some are decorated quite creatively. Although rocks are never removed from the Mound, the Mound itself was moved from the upper campus to the lower campus in the 1970s when Darbeth Fine Arts Building was built on the original site of the Mound. A major renovation in 2006 added a plaza area around the Mound with commemorative stones, benches, and landscaping.

The nickname Moundbuilders originated in 1910 when students wanted to be called something other than “Preachers” or “Methodists.” Editorialists toyed with various suggestions since Southwestern students lived on “the hill.” The name “Cliff-dwellers” was suggested but was ultimately scrapped for “Moundbuilders” after student Harry Hart wrote that “anybody could just dwell there, but ‘builders’ shows action.” The Moundbuilding ceremony was instituted in 1927 by Dean Leroy Allen who said, “Nobody but Moundbuilders can build mounds. So, no other college has now, or ever is likely to have such a custom.”

In 1998 and 1999, when Newsweek listed the 15 most bizarre mascots/nicknames among colleges and universities in the United States, the SC Moundbuilders were right up there among the Banana Slugs and the Fighting Missionaries. So, you could pick a standard education anywhere, or a unique experience at SC.