Winston Churchill's mother) whose family summered in Williamstown.
The Williams college mascot is a purple cow. The mascot's name, Ephelia, was submitted in a radio contest in October 1952 by Theodore W. Friend, a senior at Williams. The origins of the cow mascot are unknown, but one possibility is that it was inspired by the Purple Cow humor magazine, a student publication begun in 1907, which used the college color along with a cow.
=== Alma mater ===
Williams claims the first alma mater song written by an undergraduate, "The Mountains", was by Washington Gladden of the class of 1859.
In 2016, a college-wide contest was held for a new official Williams song. The winner was "Echo of Williams", music by Kevin Weist, class of 1981, and lyrics by Bruce Leddy, class of 1983.
=== Mountain Day ===
On one of the first three Fridays in October, the president of the college cancels classes and declares it Mountain Day. The bells ring, announcing the event, members of the Outing Club unfurl a banner from the roof …
