St John’s College

East Egg South? Gatsby would have fit right in.
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You can sum up this 30-​year running annual event with one word. And it isn’t wickets, mallets, or even champagne, although I hear they ran out of bubbly rather early. It’s all about hats. Last year’s Royal Wedding has nothing on the St. John’s vs. Navy Croquet Match. And unlike the London event, many gentlemen outshone the ladies. I saw dapper straw boaters and jaunty racing caps. There was even a gent in a safari outfit with a pith helmet! Guys, you’ll feel under-​dressed in anything less than a seersucker suit or a double-​breasted blazer. And Miss Manners granted us a dispensation to the «no white bucks before Memorial Day» rule.
Picture a garden party scene right out of The Great Gatsby with 2,000 West and East Eggers mingling on an historic lawn. St. John’s flaunted its intellectual snobbery with a large banner that read «Beat Navy» in Greek. Although very few spectators actually knew the rules to croquet, that didn’t seem to dampen anyone’s enthusisam. Take a look at the uploaded pix.
In a previous review of the Federal House, I wrote, «I am fairly certain that God has a sense of humor. In fact, I think God has a perverse sense of irony. My main assurance for this is that he put the Naval Academy across the street from St Johns College in Annapolis.»