My favourite baseball cap is emblazoned with the quantity 47 on it.
However it’s not what you assume.
Lengthy earlier than Donald Trump launched his bid to return to the White Home to change into the nation’s forty seventh president, the quantity 47 held particular which means for me and my fellow Pomona Faculty graduates and present college students.
The quantity 47 is taken into account sacred for anybody who calls themselves a Sagehen. (Sure, that’s our faculty mascot. Don’t snort.)
The quantity 47 has eerily appeared repeatedly within the 137-year historical past of this personal liberal arts faculty, situated within the tranquil, tree-shaded city of Claremont.
Examples? Exits on the ten and 210 freeways to get to Pomona Faculty are each quantity 47. The organ on the faculty’s music auditorium has 47 pipes within the prime row. There have been 47 enrolled college students on the time of the primary graduating class in 1894. The biggest dorm on campus, formally often known as Florence Service Blaisdell and Della Mullock Mudd Corridor, has 47 characters within the title and was accomplished in 1947. The dorm’s staircase comprises 47 balusters.
I’m certain there are others examples — perhaps 47 of them — that I’m forgetting.
The quantity has change into so carefully tied to the college that the on-campus retailer sells hats, T-shirts, shot glasses and even child socks adorned with 47. Incoming freshmen be taught of the college’s particular quantity throughout orientation periods.
That’s why it feels greater than upsetting to see crowds at Trump’s rallies waving indicators with the quantity 47 on them. The web Trump retailer — together with Amazon.com — are additionally peddling baseball caps, similar to mine, with the quantity 47 stitched to the entrance. Trump himself can typically be seen sporting a MAGA hat with the numbers 45-47 on the aspect. His marketing campaign platform was referred to as Agenda 47.
It looks like Trump and his followers have appropriated my favourite quantity.
And I’m not alone.
Pomona Faculty alumni have created a Fb web page — the 47 Society — devoted to displaying examples of the quantity because it pops up in on a regular basis life — on a restaurant invoice, an airline boarding move and soccer scores. A current subject of dialogue amongst members of the 47 Society was the election of Trump.
“Nicely, that is the worst factor to occur to our beloved quantity, presumably ever,” one graduate wrote on the web page.
Hugo Martín, the writer of this text, along with his beloved “47” cap.
(Courtesy of Hugo Martín)
One other alumnus wrote that he scraped off a 47 sticker from his automotive rear window. “I don’t need anybody considering I voted for him.”
An alumnus from the category of 1996 messaged me to say that she had been enthusiastic about getting a “47” tattoo however has had second ideas since Trump’s election. “Possibly after time passes I’ll,” she mentioned. “However not anytime quickly.”
Terril Jones, a graduate of the category of 1980 and a former member of the Pomona Faculty Alumni Assn., mentioned he worries that sporting his 47 hat in public is perhaps seen as a political assertion as an alternative of a present of affection for his alma mater.
“It’s a quantity pricey to Sagehens who’ve lengthy thought of it their very own,” he mentioned. “I positively really feel that the Trump marketing campaign has co-opted it in a method that makes it tough for all individuals who love 47 to show it.”
I additionally fear that my beloved 47 hat will probably be misinterpreted. However my love for Pomona Faculty received’t let me toss it as others have executed.
Jones mentioned he feels the identical method.
“My hope is that it will die down after 4 years, if not earlier, and the quantity 47 received’t be related to any specific politicians,” he mentioned.
