Painting the Cannon

By Cameron Rusin

Hi Friends!

Apologies for how long it’s been since I last posted… I’ve actually had more free time than I know what to do with for the past week but I just couldn’t think of anything worthwhile to write about, but now I do!

Some background: In 1956, the City of Medford Historical Society ended up with a cannon that they had nothing to do with, so gave it to Tufts for various reasons. Tufts, also having nothing to do with it, placed it on a small patch of grass next to the chapel (Apparently it’s facing Harvard on purpose, but I’m not even sure it’s facing the correct direction to do that). It led a peaceful life for a couple of years, being removed once for repairs then staying gone for awhile because sentiment towards the Vietnam War, then was brought back 1977. That year some students painted The Cannon black to protest Tufts’ support of the Marcos family in the Philippines then another group of students repainted The Cannon because they were opposed to the vandalism. Funnily enough, this act started the tradition of Painting the Cannon! Since then group paint the cannon to spread awareness about events, birthdays, world events, causes, and literally anything else you would ever want to paint about. The rules are that you can only Paint the Cannon after sunset then you must guard The Cannon until sunrise in order to prevent other groups from painting over your work.

Why I Am Telling You All This Information: Per TUXC tradition, the thursday before NCAA regionals, all of the freshmen Paint the Cannon for TUXC, so that’s what I did last night! We were tipped off that Ballroom also wanted to Paint the Cannon so guards were posted at sunset (4:30) to stake our claim. I had class, so my evening at the Cannon began at 7:00. This was chill as it was fairly early, no one had bailed yet, and plenty of upperclassmen were visiting and bringing us snacks. The actual painting occurred at 9:00! I used spray paint for the first time and can be credited with the “R” in REGIONALS. I’ll attach pictures at the end (also I am writing this in the dining hall and realize that I don’t have any daytime pictures of our masterpiece so must brave the real feel of 21 degrees), but I think that it turned out really well! Then started the guarding. We had originally planned for shifts, but then went out the window so it was more of a last as long as you can kind of night. Most people dipped at midnight, but I ended up staying out until 2:30, when a group of girls who went to bed early but agreed to wake back up for the graveyard shift returned. I didn’t feel as cold as I thought I would be (except for my toes), but waking up for a 7:15 workout the next morning was pretty brutal. Overall it was a good bonding experience with those that also stayed late with me, but the boys team was annoyingly antisocial and unwilling to sit in the cold. However I am very proud of our night. A spy in ballroom sent us their group messages the next morning. Apparently they were stalking us all night after we had foiled their plan of painting at midnight, and were impressed with the fact that we foiled their plans all the way up to 4:15am, which is when they gave up. I believe they’re painting it tonight, which makes me a little sad because sometimes a painting can last on The Cannon for a couple of days before being painted over.

So that was my Thursday! Besides my workout this morning, I've spent all day sleeping and trying to come to terms with the fact that the puddles outside of my dorm froze over today.