Graphic by Wesley Walter, Managing editor. By Cady Inabinett, Editor in chief
The first question that anyone who knows anything about Montevallo at all will ask you upon learning that you’re a student here is, “Are you a Purple or a Gold?”
It is the question that defines campus life and the school’s culture and traditions. At Montevallo, it is, hands down, the single most important question you must ask yourself during your tenure as a student—forget trying to figure out your major or post-graduation plans.
My mom is a Montevallo alumna, and while she was never super involved with College Night, she’s not above telling you that it’s going to be a GV. When I decided to come to Montevallo, her and her Montevallo friends began to speculate if I would be a Purple or a Gold.
But, for the last few years, when faced with that fateful question, I’ve had to respond, “Well, I’m neither. I’m a Green.”
A startled hush falls over the room before the asker dares to question, “Oh, do you ever feel like you’re missing out?”
This is a question, reader, that I’ve been asking myself recently amidst all of the College Night festivities.
If you’ve been a frequent reader of this column, you’ll know that I decided embarrassingly early on in my time at The Alabamian that I wanted to become its editor in chief. As editor in chief, it’s important that you maintain press objectivity and integrity by remaining neutral about campus’s most divisive event of the year, thus relegating you to be a Green. Instead of joining one side to have to abandon it later, I just never joined at all.
That’s not to say I don’t get the appeal of College Night. Even though I’ve never been much of a theater kid, I understand the appeal of joining up and rooting for a team. I understand wanting to be a part of something bigger than yourself—wanting to work together to create this larger-than-life product with decades of history and tradition behind it, to feel affinity with someone you may have never even met before just because you have this one thing in common.
Because, that’s what College Night is all about, right? It’s this big, beautiful spectacular tradition that is unlike any other. It’s a tradition that is just so unequivocally Montevallo that it has the ability to transcend any campus divides and bring people together in celebration. Time and location are no match for College Night, as Montevallo alumni pour in from far and wide to see the show alongside freshman who just arrived on the bricks six months ago.
Haven’t I cheated myself out of all of this by not joining a side? No, I’ve just found my place in the tradition in a different way.
Last year, former Alabamian managing editor of production, Josie Daisy, wrote a piece on her experience being Green as a member of Palmer’s Staff—the group of people who make sure College Night runs smoothly each year. In this piece, she wrote, “With a team of great people, being able to participate in both shows simultaneously has been a great way to finish my final semester at UM. The lack of competition has now brought a joy to this tradition that I’m very happy to experience. It’s not without its stress, as all College Night things are, but it’s all worth the pain.”
While I’m Green in a different way, Daisy’s words resonate with me as well. I’m not an outsider in College Night and it’s traditions, I’m just a part of it in a different way. Even as I just spent a stressful week rushing to put together not just one, but two, special College Night editions of The Alabamian—the one you currently have in your hands and another edition that will never see the light of day again—I wouldn’t have it any other way. When I and other members of The Alabamian’s staff throw these papers to help announce the winner of this year’s College Night, it’ll all be worth it. I feel connected to the members of each side as they anticipate their side being called. I feel joy and take pride in knowing that I play a role in crafting a document of Montevallo’s greatest tradition, that I have made a product that will be cherished by members of either side as a memento of their hard work and achievement.
So, no, I don’t feel like I’m missing out. I feel I’ve found the side for me.
The only thing left to say, at risk of ending this on a somewhat snide note is this: Whether it’s a PV or a GV, so long as there’s a paper thrown at College Night, The Alabamian will always win.
Cady Inabinett is the editor in chief of The Alabamian. She’s majoring in English and double-minoring in political science and peace and justice studies. She enjoys reading, watching movies, caring for houseplants and generally just being pretentious in her free time.
