The Immortals Return: 1962 College Bowl Champs Vanquish Mock Trial Members

Old-school knowledge prevailed over youthful brainpower as the Lafayette College Bowl Champions of 1962 went head to head with current members of Lafayette’s mock trial team in Pfenning Alumni Center earlier this month.

Although the mock trial team earned a trophy March 21-23 at the American Mock Trial Association’s Silver Flight tournament, it faltered under the intellectual onslaught of its more experienced opponent.

The informal competition was comprised of questions asked by Liz McMahon, professor of mathematics, which were a mixture of general knowledge and specialized Lafayette queries. One category, “Name that Decade,” offered up several fun questions about Lafayette history: The decade when classes were first held? 1830s. When was chapel no longer mandatory? 1940s. In what decade did the Lafayette/Lehigh rivalry begin? 1880s. Competition observers also learned (if they didn’t know already) that Lafayette’s population reached 1,000 in the roaring ’20s, Skillman Library first came on the scene in the 1960s, and the college went coed in the 1970s.

Question topics also included the alumni rock group Cyrkle, which had a No. 2 hit in 1966 with the Paul Simon-penned “Red Rubber Ball”; the fact that the 2002 football team had a record of 7-5, winning four more games than its 1962 counterpart, who ended the season with a record of 3-6; and the number of alumni who have won Nobel Prizes (two).

The competition was divided into two 10-minute halves; at the end of the first half, the College Bowl champs, taking the name “The Immortals” for the evening’s event, were down 80 to 110.

“It’s not fair,” joked Barry Wellman ’63, one of the Immortals. “You keep asking them [the mock trial team] questions we know the answers to!”

The score-shock at halftime seemed exactly what the old champs needed to get into gear, and the final score was 220 to 150, the Immortals remaining undefeated and the Mere Mortals (as the mock trial members called themselves) remaining just that in this competition.

Wellman was then proud to proclaim, “Age gives you staying power!” He also noted that the ’62 College Bowl team was “the only undefeated team in Lafayette history — the quickest thumbs in the business.”

After the competition, the alumni talked about their time at Lafayette and their career choices, and also gave advice to current students.

“The intimacy with faculty and the variety of coursework was really a confidence builder,” said Steve Friedman ’64, a biology graduate and medical director of Wellpoint Life and Health.

Wellman, a professor of sociology at University of Toronto who is studying whether the Internet is changing society, agrees that Lafayette provided experience and confidence. “I found out that I could easily compete” at Harvard, where he obtained his doctorate, he said.

Robert E. Jones ’63, professor of history at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, said the College Bowl “made you realize you could play in a bigger field than you thought.” He also addressed the Mere Mortals, assuring them, “You did every bit as well as the team from Berkeley,” which the ’62 team beat for the championship.

“Then as well as now, to me Lafayette was idyllicit’s that opportunity you have to broaden your horizons — you should treasure it,” advised Robin Wolfe ’64, the fourth member of the ’62 team and partner at the New York law firm Kantor, Davidoff, Wolfe, Mandelker & Kass, P.C. He also warned students not to rush into anything, and to take the time to explore a little and sample things. “Have the courage not to be afraid of making the wrong choice.”

Lafayette’s 1962 champions brought home $9,000 in scholarships after five undefeated appearances on the General Electric College Bowl.

“A crowd of students sparked by eleven members of the college band greeted the young men and their coach, Prof. William W. Watt, on their triumphant return to the campus,” reported the November 1962 issue of The Lafayette Alumnus. “And they were entertained, interviewed and honored all over the area as the eighth team to retire undefeated in the five-year history of the TV game.”

Lafayette bested teams representing the University of Cincinnati, University of Rochester, Hope College, American University, and University of California at Berkeley.

“Our participation in the College Bowl was a very big deal in 1962 — certainly the biggest deal on campus that year,” recalls Jones, who keeps a phonograph record with the audio recording of one of Lafayette’s wins. “We used to get fan letters from girls, alumni — all sorts of people. When we finally won for the fifth time, which was the limit, we were greeted with a huge parade welcoming us back to campus. We were carried on people’s shoulders, the marching played — the whole business. We also were invited to speak at several alumni functions.”

Jones has fond memories of Watt, an English professor and authority on Victorian literature. “He was a great lecturer,” he notes. “He had a very gruff, witty, and entertaining manner. His course on Shakespeare was something that many people tried to take.”

The entire experience was extremely exciting, says Jones. The TV network provided the team with accommodations at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. “We got tickets to Broadway shows like A Man for All Seasons and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. I saw the closing performance of My Fair Lady.”

The competition was held at a New York theater just off Broadway, with the teams sitting at either end of the stage. Memorable moments included a blowout victory in which the team scored about 20 times as many points as its opponent and a comeback win against the University of California at Berkeley.

A history graduate, Jones is author of The Emancipation of the Russian Nobility and Provincial Development in Russia: Catherine II and Jakob Sievers as well as 16 scholarly articles on Russian history. He is a frequent participant in national and international conferences and has received several grants, including the Fulbright-Hays and six grants from IREX, all for research in the USSR and Russia. He earned a Ph.D. from Cornell in 1968.

Also a history graduate, Wellman’s responsibilities at University of Toronto include directing the NetLab, teaching, and conducting research at the Center for Urban and Community Studies, the Knowledge Media Design Institute, and the Bell University Laboratories’ Collaborative Environment Lab (see related story). He also is a cross-appointed member of the faculty of Information Studies. He is a recent Fellow of IBM’s Institute of Knowledge Management and is involved in related organizations. He is author of more than 200 articles and editor of three books (see related story). He earned masters and Ph.D. degrees in sociology from Harvard University in 1965 and 1969, respectively.

A biology graduate, Friedman was in private practice for plastic surgery in Medford, Mass., from 1975-1995. He earned his MD from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1968. His daughter, Merritt, graduated from Lafayette in 1993.

The team’s third history graduate, Wolfe specializes in a wide range of corporate and commercial litigation in all New York State courts and in federal courts, as well as arbitration proceedings and several criminal proceedings. Heavy experience has included all phases of litigation, including drafting of pleadings, motions, research and drafting of all memoranda and briefs, conduct and defense of depositions, drafting of interrogatories, and other discovery devices. He received his law degree from Columbia University in 1969.