A Monument to Falling Up

Odd Things I’ve Seen: Anti-Gravity Monuments

To market the mission of the [Gravity Research Foundation], Babson made large donations to various colleges with the stipulation that they each set up one of these strange monuments. Curiously, none of the three colleges that he founded have anti-gravity monuments, those colleges being Babson College in Wellesley, MA; Webber International University in Babson Park, FL; and Utopia College in Eureka, KS. Utopia College has a bit more of an excuse, though, since while the other two still exist, it went defunct years ago. Naturally, no place with a name like that can operate for long without irony, self-consciousness, or feelings of inadequacy rotting it from the inside.

A list of the monuments located in New England is given, with a short description

Tufts University in Medford, MA: Located between Barnum Hall and Ballou Hall at the north corner of the President’s Lawn, this stone has actually been incorporated into a campus tradition. Students who graduate with degrees in cosmology kneel at this stone while professors drop an apple on their heads. Once again, gravity-related humor is so underrated.