NEELAM VYAS '14, SHIRTTAILS COMMITTEE CO-CHAIR, 2012-2014:
Shirttails is one of Hendrix's biggest and oldest traditions. It's really a big dance competition between the freshmen of each residence hall. Shirttails was really one of my fondest experiences. It was the first time that I got to meet all of the other
girls in Galloway Hall with me and it really did do a lot to help me more at ease into the Hendrix community.
JIM WILTGEN, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT FOR STUDENT AFFAIRS AND DEAN OF STUDENTS:
The Shirttails tradition started about 100 years ago when Hendrix defeated the University of Mississippi in a football game. After the victory, which is unexpected, the students took off their pants and they went downtown into Conway without their pants.
VYAS:
Eventually it slowly morphed into an event where men would go to nearby women's college to serenade their women. Over the years there was a lot more competition that was brewing between these dorms. Eventually the women – in about the eighties – decided
to pay the men back with Long Shirt Short Shorts, and since then women have been involved in Shirttails too. Now it's the big dance competition that we celebrate today.
WILTGEN:
Each year the upper-class students work with the new students and they create a program where the students will learn the routine and dance and then do the cheers.
VYAS:
It's a great idea to participate in Shirttails because you become part of a tradition, part of a legacy at Hendrix.
WILTGEN:
Hendrix is the only place that does Shirttails so when people look at Hendrix they see an event that is entirely unique to our college