This Is No Bull!

Collected by Kristina Lee Smith (kristina.l.smith@vanderbilt.edu)

Summary: This story is about a bull that got lose on campus in the 1800's and
terrorized the students and faculty. Classes are cancelled and the bull
is killed and takend away.


Text:  It has been said that Vanderbilt University has only cancelled classes
on two seperate occasions. Although this seems hard to believe, take it
from me, it is probably true. There may be a hurricane, a tornado,
hail, flood, or blizzard, but Vanderbilt's double doors of higher
education will usually risk students leg and limb in order to assure
them the best education. There are two exceptions. The first time
Vanderbilt closed down was, repectfuly, for the death of President John
F. Kennedy in 1964. The second time Vanderbilt closed down was in the
1800's. It seems an agitated bull broke lose from a nearby farm yard
and, I am sure in search of knowledge, made his way to Vanderbilt. The
students were evacuated or took shelter in the first available
building. Ultimately classes were cancelled when the angry bovine
couldn't be detained. Finally, the animal was shot and it's body was
taken away. The testimony to this event's validity is the black,
wrought iron fence which surrounds the campus today. This fence was
built after the event in order to deter any other large animals, wild or
domestic, from wandering onto campus again.

CONTEXT
Type: campus legend
Motif: Animal legend
or Origin Legend (Where the Vanderbilt fence came from)
My informant is Lucy Wallace. She heard the tale from a friend of hers
who works as a tour guide for Vanderbilt. She heard it from this girl
last spring. She is a senior at Vanderbilt. She is a 20 year old,
white, female. She is from Jacksonville, Florida. She doesn't follow a
particular religion, but, she does believe in God.She speaks English.
Lucy is my best friend from high school. She told me the tale in my car
as we were going to get lunch last week.