In 1903, one rush artist placed U-M’s old Library and University Hall in a skull’s eye sockets. In the background, thugs gather for battle under the eyes of a professorial owl. (See a larger version of this image.)

An artist of “the glorious ‘Class of 1908’” charges the “unspeakable offscourings of the detestable genus, FRESHMEN,” with various campus crimes. (The poster bears the scribbled autograph of J. Fred Lawton, AB ’11, co-composer of “Varsity.”) (See a larger version of this image.)

A crazy-eyed sophomore giant of 1907 clutches a terrified freshman. The poster issues rules for Black Friday, including: “Don’t fuss the ‘co-eds’” and “Don’t spend anything but your time at Ypsi.” (See a larger version of this image.)

Not to be cowed, the entering freshmen of 1907 warned the “Slimy, Sulking Scullions of 1910” of plans to “purge our Campus of the heterogeneous rabble” of the sophomore class during the Black Friday melee on “Medic Green,” an open space on the east side of the Diag. (See a larger version of this image.)

A satanic sophomore roasts a hapless freshman over a handy pit. (See a larger version of this image.)

Severed heads on spikes — the promised fate of the “sordid, grovelling pests” of the freshmen class entering Michigan in 1908. (See a larger version of this image.)

A dash of anti-Irish venom flavors this screed against the entering class of 1910, supposedly denizens of the “slums of bog and fen.” (See a larger version of this image.)

This warning cites a catalogue of campus traditions: The wearing of freshman caps; the popularity of “Joe’s of the Orient;” the campus chimes; the Senior benches; the fashion of pipe-smoking; and more. (See a larger version of this image.)

A MacBeth-ian stew is brewed by a coven of U-M witches, including “Dent,” “Law,” and “Lit” — but what was “Macy”? If you know, please telll us in the Comments section. (See a larger version of the image.)

President Harry Burns Hutchins (1909-1920) considered inter-class rush an embarrassment and gradually damped it down. It rose again a decade later, but soon receded for good — like other campus traditions, a victim of the Great Depression. (See a larger version of this image.)