Michael hung a banner outside his dorm that read: Lehigh can’t read analog clocks.
His twin brother, Chris ’26, donned a Superman costume and joined other DC heroes and villains to push a bed down Packer Avenue.
Twins brothers. Two colleges. One Rivalry.
A house divided is never easy for the Haines family. Their mother drives with a split LeLaf flag on her car. During move-in, their father had to change shirts in the car after dropping off one son before stepping foot on the other son’s rival campus.
How did this happen?
It all started with their sister, Elizabeth ’22, who introduced them to Lehigh and the most-played college football game. When the time came for the twins to look at colleges, they were split.
Michael, a chemical engineering major, applied to both Lafayette and Lehigh, but, gasp, he liked Lafayette better. Something about being on top of a hill instead of on the side of one. (Chris does acknowledge that his legs get a daily workout climbing steps.)
Chris wanted a strong business program and applied to Lehigh as well as other universities. He thought he’d be heading to another campus, but then fate stepped in.
His family was down in Georgia at a museum. He happened to be wearing a Lehigh shirt. The docent proudly exclaimed he was a Lehigh graduate from the 1940s. Later, when back on campus, Chris found that man’s name on the wall in Packer Chapel.
“The interconnectedness of Lehigh graduates made me realize that I should be at Lehigh,” Chris says.
He has never looked back. In fact, Chris jumped in as a member of the executive board of the Association of Student Alumni, working behind the scenes on many administrative tasks for Rivalry Week. He was also recently accepted into the LehighSiliconValley program over the January break.
More importantly, he likes football. Michael not so much.
Like most students though, they go to the big game, and each brother cheers on his team.
But their closeness as twins (Michael is :30 seconds older but Chris is, and was, bigger) makes them cheer in an unlikely way.
They wear their college gear and then sit together — one half on each side.
Last year, Michael was the only Lafayette student cheering loudly in the Lehigh section when his team pulled off the upset.
Michael wants to do that again this year. He believes that Lafayette will win, 100%.
Chris is more of a realist. As a football fan, he saw Lafayette hang with nationally ranked Duke for a half. But he is happy to cheer for an underdog, like his beloved New York Giants. He cites his dad’s alma mater, St. Peter’s, when it stunned the basketball world with a deep run in the NCAA tournament.
Both are feeling confident: A strong season for Lafayette. Home field advantage for Lehigh. New coaches at each. Storied programs. 159 years of history.
In that confidence, they placed a little wager on the game: Loser buys dinner.
As a safe parlay, they may just make their sister pay since she is coming home to Lehigh to watch the game with her friends and is gainfully employed at a Big Four consulting firm.
Either way, that success is all Lehigh.
