The "Class Boy"
Public Domain - Out of copyright.
Source: Princeton University, The Class of 1895, Record of the Class of ’95 of Princeton University 1895-1900. Edited by the Secretary, Andrew Clerk Imbrie, Number Three, New York, Cooke & Fry,1900. Courtesy HathiTrust.
In the center of the class photo at the top of this page is a father holding his young son on his lap. This child was 1895's Class Boy (also pictured in the photo directly above). “Class Boy” was an official alumni designation well into the 20th century, as late as the 1960s.
The title signified the first son born to the first classmate to father one after graduation. The class would officially proclaim him shortly after the class secretary received news of his birth. At their next reunion, he would be awarded the “Class Cup”. A Class Boy would frequently be included in the official reunion photo of his father's class.
The Class Boy often got to march (or be carried) at the head of the class in the P-rade, sometimes wearing full costume. And the Class Boy of the 5th Reunion traditionally got to throw out the first pitch at the Yale baseball game.
Tim Tulenko '67