Grand Marshal (RPI)

The Grand Marshal, or GM, is the highest elected student leader of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The position has been in existence since shortly after the American Civil War.

Article V, Section II of the Rensselaer Union Constitution, defines the position Grand Marshal and establishes this position as the presiding officer of the Student Senate and an ex officio member of all committees and role as the leader and the chief spokesperson for the entire Union.

Powers and duties

The Grand Marshal is normally a nonvoting member of the Student Senate. However, in the event of a tie, the Grand Marshal may cast one vote. The Grand Marshal has the power to appoint student representatives. However, any appointments made may be nullified by a majority vote of the entire Student Senate membership.

The Grand Marshal serves on Institute committees as representative of the student body, and meets with the President and Board of Trustees to represent student interests.

History

The position of Grand Marshal was created in 1866 to honor a student respected and admired by his classmates. Major Albert Metcalf Harper of Delta Phi was elected and presented a ceremonial sword, as was fitting for a major during the Civil War. His function was to head and represent the entire student body on all occasions in all relations, thereby giving it a formal unity. Except for a few years during the 1890s, Grand Marshals were elected each year, usually in the spring, and this provided, as it were, the culminating event of the student calendar with celebrations of the Grand Marshal's election and installation.

The election customs were well established by 1882, when Independence Grove, a strangely named junior, of Chi Phi, was elected Grand Marshal. In 1883 occurred a characteristic Grand Marshal's election night on May 26. William A. Aycrigg was chosen without opposition in Harmony Hall, used for many years for the purpose, and the retiring marshal was presented with a suitably inscribed gold-headed cane. The students then filed into the streets and, headed by Doring's Band, paraded through the city, with Greek fire displays and houses illuminated. They stopped at Boughton's hat store, where the new marshal was presented with a high silk hat, still used symbolically as the headgear of the office.

A common practice of the student parade was to serenade the students of the Emma Willard School, located in downtown, as well as some of the professors and school dignitaries at their homes, and they generally responded with speeches of acknowledgment. At about eleven at night the parade returned to Harmony Hall for food, drink and dancing. Until the wee hours of the morning, the press reported, the shouts and plaudits could be heard for blocks on the still night air. In 1883 the total expenses of the election were $212.50, raised by class assessments, and they included $28 for the hall and damages to it, $127 for the music, and $12 for the services of the 8 policemen at the hall.

The political order on the postwar Rensselaer campus was also transmitted from the past and continued to function despite discontent and the desire for reform. The Student Union as an association of all students had its roots in the nineteenth century, although its modern and formal organization dated from 1908. Its two heads, one the Grand Marshal, and the other, president of the Union, carried great prestige, and harked back to the nineteenth century. They were the occasion for an annual student campaign, election, and celebration which were encrusted with tradition and lively youthful antics. On these foundations was erected in due course a broad system of student elections, comprising class officers and members of the Student Council, in which the fraternities almost from the first played a prominent, if not dominant, role. The spring week of hectic campaigning and voting culminated in the celebration of Grand Marshal's Night. How genuinely democratic this election system is can be debated, but it has persisted as the one unifying, all-Institute event, accompanied by the frenzied excitement of electioneering characteristic of American politics generally and caricatured by the exploits and ebullience of youth.

The election of the Grand Marshal has undergone many changes since the position was created in 1865. In the 1880s the GM was elected by a "caucus" of students at a location off campus in an environment that might not have been conducive to intelligent voting. These 1886 Transit illustrations indicate that the process was reformed. Institute regulations, city and state laws, and changes in society have continued to modify election events. In spite of change, Rensselaer alumni share fond memories of these GM nights, days, or weeks, whether they were held on or off campus and with or without certain beverages of entertainment.

GM Week celebrations

Today, a special committee plans the "GM week" events, which occur in the last week of March. The week kicks off with events in the Armory; in the past these have included twister, miniature golf, rock climbing, a pie eating contests, and laser tag. Then there are dozens of events each day of the week, hosted by various clubs and fraternities. Events usually include battle of the bands style concerts, tennis and volleyball tournaments, fireworks, and engineering contests such as an egg drop competition from the top of the JEC. At the end of the week, the final induction ceremony is often held in the Houston Field House.

Grand Marshals

There have been 157 Grand Marshals in the history of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, with a single two term Grand Marshal. Ben Viner ’24 was elected Grand Marshal during Grand Marshal Week 2023 and is currently serving for the 2023-24 term.

Years of Service Grand Marshal Graduation Year 1865-66 Albert M. Harper 1867 1866-67 Frank J. Hearne 1867 1867-68 Virgil G. Bogue 1868 1868-69 John Pierpoint 1869 1869-70 Thomas O. Morris 1870 1870-71 George C. MacGregor 1871 1871-72 David Reeves 1872 1872-73 Daniel A. Tompkins 1873 1873-74 James N. Caldwell, Jr. 1874 1874-75 William L. Fox 1875 1875-76 Morris S. Verner 1876 1876-77 Coddington Billings, Jr. 1877 1877-78 George S. Davison 1878 1878-79 Robert R. Bridgers 1879 1879-80 Frederick S. Young 1880 1880-81 Thomas D. Whistler 1881 1881-82 Independence Grove 1882 1882-83 Robert J. Pratt 1883 1883-84 William A. Aycrigg 1884 1884-85 Leverett S. Miller 1885 1885-86 James E. Larrowe 1886 1886 Edward B. Ashby 1886 1886-87 Halsey B. Pomeroy 1887 1887-88 James M. Africa 1888 1888-89 Paul O. Herbert 1889 1889-90 William Easby, Jr. 1890 1894-95 Athol M. Miller 1895 1895-96 Henry B. Voorhees 1896 1896-97 Charles J. McDonough 1897 1897-98 Thomas R. Lawson 1898 1898-99 Gustave A. Keller 1899 1899-1900 Parley L. Williams, Jr. 1900 1900-01 James W. Davis 1901 1901-02 William H. Young 1902 1902-03 Edward W. Banker 1903 1903-04 Homer G. Whitmore 1904 1904-05 Cuyler W. Lush 1905 1905-06 William S. Lozier 1906 1906-07 Herman S. Chalfant 1907 1907-08 Horace W. Rinearson 1908

Years of Service Grand Marshal Graduation Year 1908-09 Robert A. Searle 1909 1909-10 Carl W. Schedler, Jr. 1910 1910-11 James T. Ganson 1911 1911-12 Frank B. Watkins 1912 1912-13 Edward D. P. Gross 1913 1913-14 Philip C. Rummel, Jr. 1914 1914-15 Glenn W. Tisdale 1915 1915-16 John H. Howard 1916 1916-17 Walter L. Johnson, Jr. 1917 1917-18 Harry F. Parrott 1918 1918-19 Newell L. Nussbaumer 1919 1919-20 John Van N. Richards 1920 1920-21 John S. Thompson 1920 1921-22 Neal D. Howard 1922 1922-23 Gardner S. Staunton 1923 1923-24 William M. Stilwell, Jr. 1924 1924-25 George V. Robbins 1925 1925-26 H. Fuller Stearns 1926 1926-27 Marvin H. Anderson 1927 1927-28 James M. Robbins 1928 1928-29 Bernard F. Wade 1929 1929-30 Edward P. Kennedy 1930 1930-31 Richard E. Warren 1931 1931-32 Meredith H. Thompson 1932 1932-33 Howard H. Disbrow 1933 1933-34 Carl H. Wunnenberg 1934 1934-35 J. Russell Schwarting 1935 1935-36 Walter F. Powers, Jr. 1936 1936-37 Richard V. Anderson 1937 1937-38 King Ward 1938 1938-39 Eustace P. Hetzel 1939 1939-40 Henry T. Moeckel 1940 1940-41 Frank J. Sherry 1941 1941-42 William L. Hawks 1942 1942 Allen R. Stokke 1943 1942-43 Jack V. Richards 1944 1943-44 William D. Peace 1945 1945-46 Frank P. Waters 1947 1946-47 Richard L. McLaughlin 1948 1947-48 Ronald F. Ball 1949

Years of Service Grand Marshal Graduation Year 1948-49 Daymon E. Jordan 1950 1949-50 Gerald S. Ellsworth 1950 1950-51 Gibson W. Smith 1951 1951-52 William F. Payne 1952 1952-53 Geraldo O. Penna 1953 1953-54 Glenn O. Brown 1954 1954-55 Robert W. Fox 1955 1955-56 Larry O. Edwards 1956 1956-57 David R. Murphy 1957 1957-58 James F. Morgan 1958 1958-59 David E. Lord 1959 1959-60 William J. Murdoch, Jr. 1960 1960-61 J. Gregory Crozier 1961 1961-62 Gary B. Garofalo 1962 1962-63 Michael D. Spear 1963 1963-64 Gordon N. McIntosh 1964 1964-65 Charles H. Harper 1965 1965-66 Dolf H. Beil 1966 1966-67 Kenneth A. Ullman 1967 1967-68 Alan P. Hald 1968 1968-69 Zachary I. Levine 1969 1969-70 W. Scott Staruch 1970 1970-71 Mark P. Rice 1971 1971-72 Thomas J. Engellenner 1972 1972-73 Robert J. Koch 1973 1973-74 Ross B. Gingrich 1973 1974-75 Donald Michael Stull 1976 1975-76 Gordon E. Michaels 1975 1976-77 Ira S. Tackel 1976 1977-78 Mark R. Feinstein 1977 1978-79 John A. Malitoris 1978 1979-80 Paul J. Kowalczyk 1980 1980-81 William P. Duggan 1980 1981-82 Peter Traversy 1983 1982 Jeffry A. Langan 1982 1982-83 James E. LaPosta 1980 1983-84 Mary P. Garrity 1983 1984-85 Richard E. Glassberg 1985 1985-86 John H. Cerveny 1986 1986-87 Catherine Eckart 1985

Years of Service Grand Marshal Graduation Year 1987-88 Douglas K. MacKechnie 1987 1988-89 David A. Sovie 1989 1989-90 Eric M. Lambiaso 1990 1990-91 David W. O'Connor 1991 1991-92 Mark N. Fellenz 1991 1992-93 William A. Wheeler 1994 1993-94 Kristin Delvental 1994 1994-95 Sonny Jandial 1995 1995-96 Gregory J. Waters 1997 1996-97 Kristen Trout 1997 1997-98 Mamani Datta 1998 1998-99 Erica Kulesza 1999 1999-2000 Eric Schmidt 2001 2000-01 Joseph Greco 2001 2001-02 Gil Valadez 2002 2002-03 Christopher Mather 2003 2003-04 Michael Borzumate 2004 2004-05 Michael J. Dillon 2005 2005-06 Max Yates 2006 2006-07 Carlos Perea 2007 2007-08 Julia Leusner 2008 2008-09 Kara Chesal 2009 2009-10 Michael Zwack 2011 2010-11 Benjamin Hunt 2011 2011-12 Lee Sharma 2012 2012 Russell Brown 2014 2012-13 Kevin Dai 2014 2013-14 Charles Carletta 2014 2014-15 Kyle Keraga 2015 2015-16 Marcus Flowers 2016 2016-17 Paul Ilori 2017 2017-18 Justin Etzine 2018 2018-19 Stefanie Warner 2019 2019-20 Meagan Lettko 2020 2020-21 Advaith Narayan 2021 2021-22 Cait Bennett 2022 2022-23 Cait Bennett 2023G 2023-24 Ben Viner 2024 2024-25 Vivian Rost-Nasshan 2026

External links

• GM Week Website