While some are just pure fun and some are borderline illegal, all reign when it comes to the craziest college traditions out there.
1 – University of Colorado Boulder: 4/20
At Boulder, 4/20 is less of a tradition and more of a religion. On April 20th (4/20), over 10,000 students (and locals and out-of-towners…) gather in Norlin Quad to take a communal puff of marijuana at 4:20 pm. The reason for the celebration? We think it’s a three-way tie between protesting legalization, relaxing before finals, and getting some use out of the tie-dye shirts in the backs of closets. You have to admit, getting thousands of people to smoke pot at the same time and in the same location is impressive. Even for Colorado students.
2 – University of Georgia and University of Florida: World’s Largest Cocktail Party
Since 1933, the UGA vs. UF annual football game has been held in Jacksonville, Florida. And every year, thousands of tailgaters from both southern schools celebrate the game of the year with, notoriously, the world’s largest outdoor cocktail party. Although those wearing clothes are clad in dresses and pearls, this isn’t your mama’s cocktail party—between the gators and the dawgs you have a whole lot of party animals. (Bad pun, true statement.)
3 – Northwestern: Dilo Day
In the annual culmination of a month of spring ruckus-making, Northwestern’s Dilo Day turns a Saturday on the Chicago lakefront into a concert-turned-party worthy of national recognition. Short for Armadillo Day–don’t ask, I don’t understand the name either–the Dilo festivities include a concert lineup that has recently featured A-list headliners like Regina Spektor, Guster, Nelly, Ben Folds, and The Roots. Local bands, free food, and a “state school for a day” mentality send NU students off to their summer vacations (and by ‘vacations’ we mean internships) with a bang. And who said Northwestern was the boring Big 10?!
4 – Ohio State University: Mirror Lake Jump
You’d have to be a not to jump into a frozen lake…or at least a Buckeye. On the eve of the Ohio State vs. Michigan football game, thousands of students shed their scarlet and grey and make a pilgrimage to Mirror Lake, whereupon the bravest (also see: dumbest) jump in. Along with hypothermia, frostbite, and countless cases of the common cold, some swear that the annual jump is partially responsible for Ohio State’s seven-game winning streak against the Wolverines. (Although doctors, nervous administrators, and concerned parents are convinced there is no correlation.)
5 – Reed College: Renn Fayre
Single-handedly responsible for making a Renaissance Fair (or Renn Fayre) bear some semblance of cool, Reed College students look forward to an end-of-year celebration fit for a vassal. Complete with a march from the library to the Registrar to celebrate the completion of senior theses, music, food, drinks, crafts, and, like any authentic Renaissance celebration… fireworks? …Renn Fayre is a college tradition worthy of praise. Huzzah.
6 – MIT: Pumpkin Drop
If you drop a pumpkin from the top of a roof, what is the radius of the impact? The equation probably doesn’t even make sense, but it’s not supposed to; at least once a year, on Halloween, MIT students are encouraged to forget about the physics of falling objects and just drop pumpkins off of a roof. And leave it to your smartest classmates to do it right: frozen pumpkins are hurled (often to orchestration) off the Green Building—the tallest building in Cambridge. Nothing says “Happy Halloween”—or “Infamous College Tradition”—like a torrent of plummeting pumpkins.
7 – The University of Michigan: Hash Bash
Every spring, thousands of Michigan students join the left-wing, hippie community of Ann Arbor for a joyful celebration of, well, pot. Crowds gather on the Diag with “Legalize Mary Jane” banners, music plays, tie-dye is worn, paraphernalia is sold, and the only thing more prevalent than Bob Marley t-shirts is the smell of marijuana. Since medical marijuana is legal in the state and possession is only a civil infraction (when the possession is not on university property), there’s not a whole lot to kill the collective buzz. Add good weather and baked goods, and you have a foolproof recipe for an infamous college tradition.
8 – Penn State: Arts Fest
You know it’s a big deal when an Art Festival convinces over 125,000 people to hang out in the middle of Pennsylvania. (In the summer, no less!) Since 1967, theater-goers, art lovers, film buffs, and music fans have gathered to celebrate the arts, eat good food, and come up with an excuse to enjoy that delicious shaken lemonade. (Not into art but still into fun? Check out the Teddy Bear Parade—a children’s event where hundreds of kids march through the streets of State College alongside their favorite stuffed animal friends. Try to come up with a tradition cuter than that…we dare you.) Galleries, exhibitions, prizes, and an all-around artistic good time remind us that not allcampus traditions are drowned in beer.
9 – Boston University: Marathon Monday
For runners, the third Monday in April, the day of the Boston Marathon, marks the high point in a career of grueling physical strain and unwavering mental determination; for BU students, the marathon marks the high point of the social season. Thanks to a bogus holiday (“Patriot’s Day”—a commemoration of the battles of Lexington and Concord?) Bostonians have the day off to throw parties, cheer for the runners, and roam the warming streets. 5:30am wake-up calls, pre-marathon beer-pong marathons, and waffle breakfasts at sunrise start the day’s festivities, and the fun doesn’t stop until the last runner crosses the finish line. (Which BU students assume happens sometime early the next morning…)
10 – Barnard College: Midnight Breakfast
At midnight on the eve of the first day of final exams every semester, Barnard College students (along with the rest of their Columbia classmates) pack LeFrak Gymnasium for a midnight breakfast of epic proportions. Barnard President Deborah Spar, deans, professors, administrators, and notable alumni serve the studying student body a (free) breakfast complete with fresh fruit, coffee, pancakes, eggs, doughnuts, and pastries. Oh, and author Anna Quindlen (class of ‘74) serves the bacon.