In American colleges, the monitors are usually appointed by the President, their duty being to keep bills of absence from, and tardiness at, devotional and other exercises. See Laws of Harv. and Yale Colls., &c.
Let monitors scratch as they please,
We'll lie in bed and take our ease.
Harvardiana, Vol. III. p. 123.
MOONLIGHT. At Williams College, the prize rhetorical exercise is called by this name; the reason is not given. The students speak of "making a rush for moonlight," i.e. of attempting to gain the prize for elocution.
In the evening comes Moonlight Exhibition, when three men from each of the three lower classes exhibit their oratorical powers, and are followed by an oration before the Adelphic Union, by Ralph Waldo Emerson.—Boston Daily Evening Traveller, July 12, 1854.
MOONLIGHT RANGERS. At Jefferson College, in Pennsylvania, a title applied to a band composed of the most noisy and turbulent students, commanded by a captain and sub-officer, who, in the most fantastic disguises, or in any dress to which the moonlight will give most effect, appear on certain nights designated, prepared to obey any command in the way of engaging in any sport of a pleasant nature. They are all required to have instruments which will make the loudest noise and create the greatest excitement.
MOSS-COVERED HEAD. In the German universities, students during the sixth and last term, or semester, are called Moss-covered Heads, or, in an abbreviated form, Mossy Heads.
MOUNTAIN DAY. The manner in which this day is observed at Williams
College is described in the accompanying extracts.
"Greylock is to the student in his rambles, what Mecca is to the Mahometan; and a pilgrimage to the summit is considered necessary, at least once during the collegiate course. There is an ancient and time-honored custom, which has existed from the establishment of the College, of granting to the students, once a year, a certain day of relaxation and amusement, known by the name of 'Mountain Day.' It usually occurs about the middle of June, when the weather is most favorable for excursions to the mountains and other places of interest in the vicinity. It is customary, on this and other occasions during the summer, for parties to pass the night upon the summit, both for the novelty of the thing, and also to enjoy the unrivalled prospect at sunrise next morning."—Sketches of Will. Coll., 1847, pp. 85-89.
"It so happens that Greylock, in our immediate vicinity, is the highest mountain in the Commonwealth, and gives a view from its summit 'that for vastness and sublimity is equalled by nothing in New England except the White Hills.' And it is an ancient observance to go up from this valley once in the year to 'see the world.' We were not of the number who availed themselves of this lex non scripta, forasmuch as more than one visit in time past hath somewhat worn off the novelty of the thing. But a goodly number 'went aloft,' some in wagons, some on horseback, and some, of a sturdier make, on foot. Some, not content with a mountain day, carried their knapsacks and blankets to encamp till morning on the summit and see the sun rise. Not in the open air, however, for a magnificent timber observatory has been set up,—a rough-hewn, sober, substantial 'light-house in the skies,' under whose roof is a limited portion of infinite space shielded from the winds."—Williams Monthly Miscellany, 1845, Vol. I. p. 555.
"'Mountain day,' the date to which most of the imaginary rows have been assigned, comes at the beginning of the summer term, and the various classes then ascend Greylock, the highest peak in the State, from which may be had a very fine view. Frequently they pass the night there, and beds are made of leaves in the old tower, bonfires are built, and they get through it quite comfortable."—Boston Daily Evening Traveller, July 12, 1854.