It is with a heavy heart that we announce the untimely passing of a Women’s Shacket from Tilly’s, size M, named “Fracket,” which departed this world on the fateful night of Jan. 12, 2025. Fracket is survived by Vic Ernst, ’25, her dear owner and companion, along with a number of forgotten frackets scattered along the porches of welcoming homes on the Windfall Hill.
Fracket was declared missing in action at 1:32 a.m. when Ernst realized it was missing outside Pumptown at 135 Winding Way. Earlier that night, Fracket had accompanied Ernst to Lower Windfall and made its way up the hill. Ernst had parted ways with Fracket outside Pumptown, where it was placed among other frackets atop a barbecue grill.
When Ernst was ready to go home, she realized Fracket was not there. And, Fracket was usually easy to spot; it was white and gray plaid and was itchy enough that it made you think twice before putting it on.
The void left by Fracket may ever be present. Fracket earned its title in August 2021, when Ernst was packing for her first year at Washington and Lee University, and was advised by an older student to bring a cheap jacket for winter rendezvous.
Fracket traveled countless Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays through the streets of Red Square up to the hill of Windfall, waited patiently in piles of other frackets for Ernst to go home, and had never been apprehended before.
Given that Fracket was unique in color and pattern, investigators say it is unlikely that an inebriated student mistook Fracket for their own. They allege that the bitter cold temperatures in the early morning of Jan. 12, combined with the dwindling buzz of Busch Light, may have tempted an inebriated student to purposely take Fracket into the Trav line.
But Ernst isn’t the only victim of fracket theft. Cat Pettegrove, ’25, said her first ever fracket, a black Patagonia puffer, was taken during her freshmen year winter semester in 2022. She was at Windfall with a friend, when her friend spotted the act.
“OMG, she just took your jacket!” her friend clamored.
Pettegrove’s friend knew the thief and reached out to her. The thief apologized and returned the fracket to Pettegrove on the following day, leaving the puffer outside her dorm.
Pettegrove said the incident has shaped her behavior when bringing her fracket out.
“I’m definitely more aware of where I put my jacket and don’t put it in a pile with others, she said. “I try to hide it better.”
Other students are not so lucky. First-year Jalynn Woolley, ’28, is a two-time survivor of fracket theft.
Woolley says she lost her first fracket during her first semester. She got this fracket, a fuzzy white sherpa jacket from Walmart, for the purpose of wearing it to frat parties.
She left it on the railing outside Pumptown and forgot to grab it as she ran to catch Trav. Woolley was already home when she realized she had forgotten it. She went to look for it the next day, but it was gone — despite having her name on the inner label.
Woolley became a victim of fracket theft again earlier this month. She said she started wearing a black Alo puffer out, since she didn’t have time to replace her stolen Walmart fracket. She left the jacket outside Pumptown while she visited the other homes along the hill.
When it was time to go home, Woolley looked for her fracket in the pile. It was gone.
Woolley was astonished and disappointed. “I trusted that the honor code would ensure my jacket would remain in the same spot I left it,” Woolley said.
Woolley admitted she thought about taking any fracket from the pile, since it seemed like people didn’t care. But her commitment to W&L’s honor system stopped her.
“I was so upset that someone had taken mine,” Woolley said. “I didn’t want to put that upon anyone else, so I froze in the Trav line for 30 minutes.”
While Urban Dictionary suggests that one should suspect frackets to be stolen, the standard for honor is higher at W&L than at other colleges.
“Students at Washington and Lee recognize the great authority they possess and the communal presumption to behave honorably,” according to the Honor System Website. “This understanding instills a profound sense of trust among all within the University community and enriches every aspect of student life.”
In lieu of flowers to commemorate Fracket, please, if you have ever committed Fracket theft, repent by returning it to the place where you had taken it. May we learn from these losses and work together to create a safer, warmer, more honorable campus for all.
Viktor Reznov • Feb 3, 2025 at 12:30 pm
My fracket was stolen after surviving ‘Nam. A dreadful day full of sorrow.