Don’t be alarmed if you hear cannon shots Friday, as 10 shots of gunpowder spaced five minutes apart will begin at 5:22 p.m. in the engineering quad to celebrate Engineer’s Week.
Kristi Boren, the executive assistant to OU Gallogly College of Engineering Dean John Klier, said the cannon is shot once or twice a year by the Loyal Knights of Old Trusty. The over 100-year-old order of engineering students was founded to uphold the traditions of the College of Engineering and to pay homage to St. Patrick, the patron Saint of Engineers, according to a 1947 Sooner Yearbook page.
Order members wore black robes and hoods to guard their identities and were given membership for their promotion of engineering activities, according to the page. The group fired a cannon named “Old Trusty” in the morning of St. Patrick’s Day and on other special occasions.
The event is open to the public, Boren said, and it will follow a series of Engineer’s Week events Friday, including the college’s 110th Engineering Open House. Over 500 high school students from across the state are expected to attend, according to an email from the college. Teams of students will compete in design competitions for devices they made, and members of the winning teams will be awarded an OU Engineering scholarship.
OUPD has been notified about the event.
