College Traditions: the Good, the Bad and the Naked?

College is your home away from home. As students, we begin to adapt to the college atmosphere, the jargon and, yes, even the traditions.

Traditions are what make colleges and universities unique and different.

Here are a few schools with some interesting traditions:

Brandeis University

Every year at the Levin Ballroom, Brandeis puts on their live art performance show, Liquid Latex.

Students drench their bodies in with latex paint and perform for the audience; approximately 1/4 of the student population is involved in the show or its production.

Clark University

Clark has a day called Spree Day in which classes are randomly canceled.

Students head over to the Green for a day of fun-filled activities like carnival games and shenanigans.

Columbia University

Columbia’s marching band leads Orgo Night, an event where the band pops up in the library to disrupt students from studying in order to provide them with a bit of stress relief before their final exams.

Emory University

Emory’s mascot, Dooley (a skeleton dressed in black) goes around classrooms during Dooley Week releasing students from their classes. Dooley Week can be equated with something like a “spirit week” for Emory which not only features Dooley, but fun events around campus.

Georgetown University

Part of the film The Exorcist was shot on Georgetown’s campus. Every Halloween after dark, the film is shown to students outside. Once the film ends around midnight, students gather around the campus’ cemetery for the “Healy Howl,” where they all howl at the moon.

Princeton University

When students graduate, they are to pass through the Fitzrendolph Gates symbolizing them entering the “real world.” Legend has it, if undergraduates exit through the gates before their time, they risk their chances of graduating.

University of Virginia

Before students graduate, they are to streak from the Rotunda down to the statue of Homer. Once they’ve reached the statue, they are to kiss him on the buttocks and run back in order to retrieve their clothes.

Some traditions are funny, some are bad and some are just down right wrong, but whatever the tradition is, it’s a memorable part of ones college experience!

What are the traditions at YOUR school?