A gift of the Class of 1879, the statue was originally placed on a pedestal in front of Alumni Hall. The class rivalry over the statue began in 1897. It was frequently dressed in undergarments, painted bright colors, and moved from one location to another (front lawn of female seminary pointing to window of most popular girl, south end of village green, buried on Bonney Hill). It reappeared as part of the Class of 1884's "Burning of Livy" and was then hidden in Dr. Taylor's basement from 1883 - 1900. The following account appeared in the Alumni News for July 1936: "At the Commencement, on behalf of the Class of 1921, Carl Kirchgassner of Utica presented to the University the battered and headless statue of Mercury that has been in the Utica bank since it was banned by the Faculty in 1919." (The head may be found in the University Archives today.) This tradition was eventually discontinued because of the increasing intensity of the intra-class rivalry.
Mercury Rules (from 1918 Salmagundi)
Rule 1. These rules shall apply from October 20th, to December 1st, and from April 1st to June 1st of each successive year.
Rule 2. Mercury shall be kept within the territory which is bounded on the south by the southern boundary of the Colgate campus; on the north by the imaginary line tangent to the south of Woodman's Pond; on the east and west by an imaginary line running along the ridge of the hills which lie on either side of the Hamilton division of the Chenango Valley.
Rule 3. Mercury shall be kept within the prescribed limits, except that it may be removed there from for a period not longer than one week.
Rule 4. Mercury shall not be kept in any building.
Rule 5. Mercury shall be in the actual custody of no person or persons not an active member or members of the two under-classes, except:
(1) That active members of the Junior class may retain Mercury for a period not longer than one month after the opening of the school year,
(2) That Mercury may be shipped in any manner to and from the under-classmen banquets of the class in possession.
Rule 6. One delegate from each of the under-classes and a member of the Senior Governing Board, whom they shall appoint, shall elect three members from the Faculty, one of whom shall ever know of the concealment of Mercury. This faculty member shall be notified by the class in possession of any change in the said place of concealment, before such change occurs, or, where such notification is impossible, within a time considered as reasonable by said faculty member.
Rule 7. The faculty member shall immediately notify the Senior Governing Board of any violation of these rules.
Rule 8. Mercury shall appear at the annual banquet of the class in possession.
Rule 9. No upper-classman shall attend an under-classman banquet.
Rule 10. Mercury shall be exhibited on the Varsity Athletic Field during the actual progress of a scheduled Varsity function upon the field.
Rule 11. No person who is not a member of the non-Mercury under-class shall participate in the search for Mercury, nor shall money be employed by the non-Mercury class for the direct purchase of Mercury.
Rule 12. The under-classman Mercury Committee shall be appointed by the former under-classman Mercury Committee.
Rule 13. Mercury shall actually pass from the Junior to the Freshman Mercury Committee within twenty-four hours after the announcement of said transfer in the college chapel.
Rule 14. Any action that is considered by the faculty members to constitute a violation of these rules shall result in the forfeiture of Mercury to the non-Mercury class, the Senior Governing Board acting as the medium of transfer.
Rule 15. These rules shall become operative immediately upon their ratification by the Students' Association.