Heritage “MOM, I NEED A SKI SWEATER.” That’s what Tau Mu Tau sister Barb Raitz-Gaugert ’65 said when she heard the news that she had been nominated by fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi for the roll of Frost Queen. The Queen reigned over a winter weekend designed to give students a muchneeded break from academic pressures: dances, live music, winter sports, and a talent show. Her mother quickly came through. Then, in sweaters, Raitz-Gaugert and eight other nominees waited in the cafeteria to find out who would be the next queen. A student dressed as Jack Frost delivered the news by bestowing upon Raitz-Gaugert a royal bouquet and a shining silver crown, complete with fur bonnet. Despite an ironic case of the cold that weekend, she proved herself deserving of the crown, even scoring the winning goal in a game of broomball. Other royal duties included presiding over a post-coronation dance in the Union and a queen’s reception in
“Oh, it was a surprise, and it was definitely an honor,” says Queen Barb Raitz-Gaugert ’65 today from her home in Phoenix, Ariz, where there is little to no need for governance over frosty weekends.
Rundstrom Hall. It all provided a sense of community when students needed it most. “The winter can get a little down and dreary and cold, and the weekend brought people out in spite of that.”
GUSTAVUS QUARTERLY | WINTER 2021
WHAT WAS FROST WEEKEND? It first appeared in 1949, with a breakfast of
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“Flap-jacks, fried and served by some of your favorite campus characters,” organizer Arlene (Nelson) Donaldson ’50 told the Gustavian Weekly. It was followed by ski jumps, toboggan races, and a hockey match between faculty and students, among other activities. Save for a short resurgence in 2012 and 2013, the tradition seems to have ended in 1988. It went out with a bang—with a viewing of the movie Top Gun followed by a Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis lookalike contest. Belated congrats to Phil Maurer ’91 and Laura (Bonkoski) Nixon ’90 on their uncanny resemblances.
