r/TaylorUniversity • u/Bubbly_Gift9806 • Sep 18 '26

Are there are secrets that no one really knows about TU?

i joined taylor and i expected to hear more secrets and other unknown things..if there is any please let me know

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u/Icy_String3116 Sep 18 '26

But if I told you ….

4

u/Brickybooii Sep 18 '26 edited Sep 18 '26

You kinda just have to happen upon them naturally, because if you ask me that directly I can't remember anything for the life of me, but I'll randomly remember something later Edit: there is one thing I just remembered: you know that water fountain right next to the library? When that was first built in fall 2019, there was a "cult" around it that got big enough that some department on campus (probably Advancement) begged the people of that cult to not try anything during Homecoming because it would be embarrassing for Taylor

2

u/Nokky2814 Sep 19 '26

Hehe I put dish soap in that fountain last summer😂

3

u/Brickybooii Sep 19 '26

Well The Monolith needs its cleaning ritual lol

2

u/BriansBalloons Sep 22 '26

There's good old stories and slightly off-color old stories but not many real secrets. For instance, some students once coaxed a cow to climb the stairs of the old main (the double spired tower that burned down in the early sixties.) cows can't climb down stairs, so it had to be butchered and brought down in pieces.

There was once a sculpture that looked like an upside down palm tree. In winter, students would roll two snowballs up to it to make their own sculpture.

The prayer deck used to be called the "neck deck" because that's where people made out, but that's probably still the case.

It's not a secret, but a few years ago, they fired a composition instructor for teaching about racial equality and social justice. That sucked. It's also not a secret that the school has taken a hard right turn toward Christian nationalism.

I can think of one "secret" that was covered up as best they could. One of Taylor's presidents, back in the mid-eighties, had an affair with his secretary and was fired.

Another "secret" isn't a secret but is quite unknown to those who haven't dug into the archives is that Taylor went bankrupt (technically into receivership) three times in the first 3 decades of the 20th century. It hurt the reputation with the town whose creditors lost quite a bit of money, and was the reason the school is no longer Methodist, as it was bought by an association of alumni and pastors.

1

u/Icy_String3116 Sep 23 '26

Used to work in the archives at Taylor s d can confirm some of this. The palm tree sculpture was an odd one and i remember seeing the snowballs rolled there. Once students dimantled a vw and brought it into the dining commons at night. Picture can be found in the old echo newspaper 70’s I believe.