Sabrina is a 350lb. bronze statue owned by Amherst College. Since it was donated to the College in 1857, the statue has been the subject of countless pranks, and has changed hands between the college administration and various student classes multiple times. Traditionally, Sabrina has been a point of contention between even and odd class years, as these two rival camps have traditionally fought over possession of her.
In 1857, Amherst College accepted a gift from then Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, Joel Hayden – a bronze neo-classical sculpture named after Sabrina, Goddess of the Britons. Sabrina was originally installed on the town side of Amherst’s campus, between North Dormitory and the Octagon.
It was not long before the scantily-clad Sabrina began to attract the attention of the then all-male Amherst student-body. Around 1860, an industrious Amherst student, in the first of many Sabrina-inspired pranks, stole a set of undergarments from of one the nearby female colleges, and used them to clothe Sabrina. The college administration harshly reprimanded the student, but the next morning, Sabrina appeared with a dent in her cheek, apparently inflicted by a blow from an ax.
This first incident of chicanery inspired a series of other pranks; one student stole the statue, only to return it soon after, while on a number of other occasions, students doused Sabrina with paint.
A decisive shift in Sabrina’s legacy occurred in 1878, when the class of 1881 snuck the statue atop the Octagon. Prior to this, the pranks were all performed by individuals. The class of 1881, however, began a tradition of pranks being performed by entire classes, a tradition enrooted by the classes of ’82 and ’83, the latter of which threw her into a well after a baseball win over Williams. These shenanigans continued year after year.
In 1884, Sabrina almost met her end, when President Julius Hawley Seelye, fed up with the non-stop ruckus the statue inspired, ordered a college groundskeeper to destroy her. The groundskeeper, however, was too moved by the statue’s beauty to carry out the orders, so he hid her underneath a haystack. A few years later, two members of the class of 1890 found her again, and attempted to throw a surprise party to celebrate her return to campus. Having received word this plan, the class of ’91 thwarted the party and eventually managed to steal her back. They then passed Sabrina on to the class of ’93, who featured her as the centerpiece of their class banquet in Springfield; however, they were not destined to hold onto her for long. After the class banquet, the class of ’93 shipped Sabrina back to Amherst for safekeeping – but she was intercepted along the way by a member of the class of ’94, sealing the tradition of interclass rivalry.
The ensuing battle was hard on poor Sabrina. Besides the usual scheming between classes, she was dangled outside of a car and a plane, shot at in a hot pursuit, returned to the college, reclaimed, and returned once more. During World War II, she was even decapitated by a group of Williams College students (Sabrina's head was later reclaimed and reunited with her body). And so the pranks continued.
The intensity of the Sabrina conflict had died down since the excitement of its glory days. From the 1950’s on, only sporadic thefts had occurred. The statue was last recovered by the College in 1994 when a member of the class of 1980 returned her for President Tom Gerety’s inauguration. Since then, the college, well aware of Sabrina’s tendency to disappear, brought her out of storage for only the occasional alumni event. However, in 2008 Sabrina was stolen from Amherst by the class of 2008. The whereabouts are currently unknown.
We may sing of our glorious college,
Of the old chapel steps and the bell,
Of the class-rooms just filled full of knowledge,
Which all Amherst men love so well.
But to-night as we're gather'd together,
Let us raise a strain loudly and strong
To her from whom naught can us sever,
To her who keeps watch o'er our throng.
Sabrina, fair, Sabrina, dear,
We raise to thee our hearty cheer,
Come fellows, all, and give a toast
To her we love, and love the most.