It’s a solid bet to proclaim that the Quakers will win each time sports teams from Wilmington College and Earlham College take to the field, court or any other athletic competition venue against one another. Both schools are nicknamed “Quakers,” and since 1963, the prize in the Friends-affiliated schools’ sports rivalry has been the “Quaker Bowl.”
The Quaker Bowl holds a deserved place alongside some of college athletics’ most famous rivalry trophies, including The Little Brown Jug to the victor between Michigan and Minnesota; The Old Oaken Bucket, Indiana and Purdue; Paul Bunyan’s Axe, Minnesota and Wisconsin; The Victory Bell, USC and UCLA; The Bronze Boot, Colorado State and Wyoming; The Illibuck, Ohio State and Illinois; and The Monon Bell, for the NCAA Division III rivalry between DePauw and Wabash.
For much of its 63-year history, the handcrafted walnut bowl recognized the winners of football and men’s basketball competitions between WC and EC. The winning team took home the traveling trophy and held bragging rights until the next time the colleges competed. In more recent years, whenever teams — men and women, in any sport — from Wilmington and Earlham play, the Quaker Bowl is on the line. Indeed, this unique sports victory award, crafted in 1963 by Ralph McKee, a faculty member in industrial education, and his student, Dale Jordan, a 1966 graduate, has endured.
While the Quaker Bowl remains as solid as, well, walnut, it is almost fully covered in metal plates denoting scores of numerous competitions through the decades. Now, it’s time to retire the Quaker Bowl to a hallowed spot in the Scheve-Ramseyer-Lewis Hall of Champions, which is being built this year to recognize athletic excellence at WC.
So, long live Quaker Bowl II. McKee produced two new Quaker Bowls and, in the presence of three of his daughters, presented them to WC President Corey Cockerill at a Wednesday (Aug. 5) luncheon.
“This is something that will be with the College for years,” McKee said.
“Forever!” Cockerill exclaimed. McKee added that what started as “a hunk of wood on a lathe” took more than 100 hours to produce the Quaker Bowls. Again, crafted with fine walnut in painstaking detail, the 2026 versions of the Quaker Bowl are a third larger than the original and, like its predecessor, are sanded and finished to perfection, with the beautiful wood’s exquisite grain clearly visible. Cockerill suggested dividing the pair of bowls between WC’s men’s and women’s sports, so the winning coaches can display these symbols of victory in their offices for recruits, current student-athletes, and alumni to see until the next WC versus EC matchup.
Cockerill said a highlight of the luncheon gathering was hearing the stories “behind one of Wilmington College’s most cherished traditions”: the Quaker Bowl. Also, McKee detailed the process of creating the new Quaker Bowls, showing photos of the production and adding colorful commentary.
“In an extraordinary act of generosity, Ralph has now hand-carved two new Quaker Bowls, ensuring the tradition can continue while allowing the original — bearing more than six decades of history — to be preserved and eventually displayed in the future Scheve-Ramseyer-Lewis Hall of Champions,” she added. “Traditions don’t endure simply because they’re old. They endure because people care enough to carry them forward. Thank you, Ralph, for ensuring this remarkable tradition will continue for generations of Quakers to come.”
McKee was a student at WC from 1956 to 1961, studying with a double major in mathematics and industrial education. The first of his family to pursue higher education, he recalled that mathematics/physics Professor W. Russell Pyle suggested he explore industrial education as a means for “working with your hands and your brain.” McKee’s College education was affordable due to his participation in WC’s nationally renowned Work/Study Program with the Randall Company in Wilmington. He lauded Menzo Stark for his leadership role with both the Industrial Education (IE) Department and Work/Study Program.
As he excelled as an IE student, McKee impressed Stark so much that he convinced his protégé to teach classes starting in 1960 while he was still a student. Hired full-time after his graduation in 1961, McKee served as a faculty member through the early 1970s, also leading the department following Stark’s untimely death in 1969. Upon leaving the College to enter the corporate world, McKee founded McKee Machine Tool in Wilmington, a machine shop and tool and dye company that grew from one employee working from his garage to a business with 130 employees working in a 28,000-square-foot facility. It landed contracts with Ford, General Motors, Toyota and Saturn.
The College recognized McKee for his key role with the IE Department and his success as a businessman and entrepreneur by conferring upon him an honorary Doctor of Business Administration degree at Commencement in 2009.
TOP PHOTO: Ralph McKee shares insight with President Corey Cockerill into crafting the pair of new Quaker Bowls, which are placed alongside the original Quaker Bowl dating back to 1963. McKee formally presented the new bowls to the College at an Aug. 5 luncheon. Cockerill is noting how the new Quaker Bowls are a third larger than the original — allowing more space to record more victories.