The ability to laugh at ourselves is a gift. The work of political and satirical cartoons is to make us think, to see another perspective and to challenge the practice of taking anything too seriously.
Around the D joins in the international proclaims of “Je suis Charlie” this week with a look at student cartoons around the topic of religion at Davidson.
From 30 October 1953 poking fun at students inattention during Chapel.
The earliest cartoon found comes from 1953. The caption reads “In Davidson Everybody Reads the Davidsonian” and depicts students ignoring a Chapel speaker by reading the paper. Sixteen years later, student efforts to avoid chapel still inspired the Davidsonian cartoonists.
From 7 February 1969, mocking both exam season and student tricks to avoid chapel.
In 1960, segregation was a hot topic at Davidson with students still deeply divided. This cartoon plays on the college’s Presbyterian heritage and the 10 commandments adding an 11th commandment Thou shalt love thy white neighbor as thyself.
From 16 February 1960 protesting segregation.
From 8 April 1960 juxtaposing Davidson College Presbyterian Church and a favorite local bar
This cartoon plays with student love of beer (Our Lady of Milwalkee) and their dislike of regular church attendance.
Student apathy, whether towards church and chapel services or involvement in the religious service activities of the YMCA was a popular theme.
From 10 November 1961 showing a student taking rather than leaving shoes for a YMCA drive
From 19 October 1962 with more direct criticism of student apathy
From 7 December 1962 satirizing student preference for holiday parties over charity
College policies, particularly around the practices of religious requirements for faculty and faculty oaths, became a re-occurring theme.
From 17 October 1958, this cartoon accompanied an editorial on the required faculty oath.
From 23 October 1964, the ball and chain motif reappears, this time hampering new faculty from applying to Davidson
From 20 November 1964, criticizing the Board of Trustees for focusing on faculty oaths instead of campus reforms.
From 20 April 1977, during the Linden controversy
The Cuban crisis in 1962 inspired a cartoon about religious blockades at Davidson.
From 26 October 1962 showing a Cuba-shaped Davidson College caught between tradition and new vesper policies
The appearance of an atheist speaker on campus in 1964 brought a bit of dinosaur humor to the editorial page.
From 14 February 1964, cartoon and headline from editorial
Questions of war and peace arose in 1963 and 1967.
From 18 October 1963, peace message not being well-received by students
From 29 September 1967, using a quotation from the college catalog to raise issues of faith and war
In 1984, a student group, the Davidson Christian Fellowship held a mock funeral on campus. The Davidsonian article reporting on the funeral and the demise of DCF begins:
DCF is dead,”declared Davidson Christian Fellowship President Frank Ivey. In a dramatic ceremony at Coffee and Cokes last Wednesday in front of Chambers, several DCF members dressed in sombre clothes, and bearing a coffin, pronounced the organization’s demise. This means that there will be no more large group meetings. The Fellowship ceases to exist. Spokesmen Craig Detweiler and Ivey explained that DCF had failed in its mission to meet the needs of Davidson students. They criticized themselves and DCF for misrepresenting the true nature of Christianity.
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