9 Of The Strangest College Traditions
Being a college student requires a lot of serious responsibility, like maintaining good grades, working, and participating in extra-curricular activities, but it’s also important to have fun.
One of the great things that come along with being a college student is having a new sense of identity: being able to feel like you’re a part of something bigger, along with many other people. Along with this comes many traditions your college might take part in, whether they’re classic, seemingly normal, or a little strange.
Here are nine college traditions you might not know about.
1. Carleton College’s Stress-Relieving Scream
The night before finals start, students at Carleton College all stick their heads out of a window promptly at 10 p.m. and scream, in an effort to relieve stress that will undoubtedly ensue the following week.
Immediately following the screaming, the students return back to studying as if nothing ever happened. Similar traditions also exist at Columbia University, Stanford and others.
2. Tuft’s University’s Naked Quad Run
Taking place in early December every year at Tuft’s University, hundreds of students would prepare by warming up with alcohol in a dorm basement, undress as a group and then exit through the rear of the building.
Although it was called a “naked” run, many participants would sport weird props like capes and hats.
While this tradition lasted for decades, it has come to a halt as the University’s president cancelled it in 2011 on account of health reasons, and the fact that it’s technically illegal.
However, since then, students have implemented what could be considered a backwards tradition from the original: the excessively overdressed quad stroll.
3. Yale University’s Good Luck Foot
The rumor is that rubbing the foot of a statue of the University’s former president James Dwight Woolsey will promise good luck in the future, especially for prospective high school students hoping for admission into the Ivy University.
4. Ohio State University’s Mirror Lake Jump
This tradition began in 1990 when about 100 of the school’s students decided to jump into the campus’ Mirror Lake two nights before their football team was to face off against the school’s biggest rival, the University of Michigan.
Now, thousands of students still make the jump the night before the game, even though it takes place at one of the coldest parts of the year!
5. Murray State University’s Shoe Tree
In the midst of the Kentucky University’s campus is a tree with at least 50 pairs of mismatched shoes nailed to it. Although no one can really say how long the tradition has been in place, it’s become an important tradition among the school’s history.
The story is that if two students meet at Murray State, fall in love and eventually get married, they’ll be blessed with good luck if they each nail a shoe to the tree. Couples will often write their anniversaries on the shoes they nail to the tree, and return with a shoe for their children once they start a family as well.
6. Pomona College’s Ski-Beach Day
Because it is possible in Southern California to go skiing and to the beach in the same day, the College has implemented a tradition to take advantage.
For one day in February or March, Pomona students go skiing at Mountain High Resort, and then in the afternoon proceed to Newport Beach to enjoy the rest of the day.
The tradition started early in the school’s history when classes were dismissed on one day out of the year for an all-day excursion.
7. Cornell University’s Dragon Day
Every year on the Friday before the University’s spring break, freshmen architectural students get together to design an elaborate dragon structure that stands several stories high.
The students of the department dress in crazy costumes and parade the dragon around campus, and then would end the parade by setting the dragon on fire in the Arts Quad, although this part of the tradition is no longer celebrated for obvious reasons.
8. Vassar College’s Senior Serenading
To establish their power, each year, the seniors of Vassar walk dorm to dorm where they get sung at by the freshmen, whose songs are usually pretty insulting.
For some reason, following the singing is a campus-wide food fight. The seniors then throw condiments at the freshmen as they continue to sing. Sounds like fun, right?
9. Columbia University’s Orgo Night
At the strike of midnight the day before the legendary organic chemistry exam on the first day of finals at Columbia, an absolute chaos breaks out.
It begins with the Columbia University Marching Band occupying the main room at the library to distract students from studying. The aim is to lower the curve for the exam. The band then moves to the Van Am Quad to entertain dorm residents.