James H. Lynah, Jr.

James H. Lynah, Jr., was a member of the Clemson Class of 1902, and served as served as Secretary and Treasurer for the class in 1900-1901, according to the class list in the annual, The Clemsonian 1901 (page 59.) He was a member of Second Detachment of the Roll Artillery Detachment, (1900-1901) (page 130); played Right End on the 1900 football team (page 192); member of the Elks Tennis Club (1900-1901) (page 204); and served as Vice-President of the Palmetto Society during third quarter of the 1900-1901 school year (page 219).

In January 1902, Lynah played a part in the on-going campus controversies of the time. Dissent on campus among the students over the college's rigid military discipline and overcrowding in the barracks, among other things, leads to in-fighting between the student body and faculty, some of whom, it becomes obvious, are hated by the cadets. Senior Lynah ill-advisedly steals a turkey from the yard of history professor William S. Morrison and his graduation is held up. The senior class petitions the faculty to let him graduate. The senate cannot muster the three-fourths majority required to expell Lynah during its January 22-January 23 meeting, but suspends the cadet indefinitely. The secret proceedings of the meeting become known to the students within the day, revealing that at least one faculty member, sympathetic to the students, leaked the debate. An outraged President Henry Simms Hartzog calls a special meeting of the professors and denounces the "eavesdroppers or traitors in the Faculty" and describes "the condition of affairs" as "annoying, serious, and disgraceful." Eventually, Lynah is allowed to graduate, and becomes a loyal alumnus.

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