Tag Archives: college

Harvard River Run – Ritual

Nationality: American
Age: 28
Occupation: Author
Residence: Long Beach
Language: English

Ritual: Harvard River Run

Context: “As a Harvard freshman, after living in what’s known as the ‘Freshmen Yard’ for a semester, we had to choose a ‘blocking group’ which was basically a group of 1-5 other people who you were agreeing to live with in one place for the rest of your time at Harvard. After choosing your group, you’re entered into the housing lottery, which determines where you and your group are housed. There are river houses, which are the most coveted because they’re much grander than the boring yard houses, and they sit right next to the Charles river, hence the name. So, in an attempt to appease what everyone called the ‘housing gods,’ freshmen will do the river run the night before housing day, which is when everyone finds out what house they got. For the river run, you get together with your blockmates, suit up, and some people will wear ridiculous outfits but most people just try to look as nonchalant as possible because if the security guards catch you trying to do this, they will kick you out. The goal of the run itself is to go from river house to river house, taking a shot in each house, usually in the room of an upperclassman you know who opens the door for you, but as long as you take the shot on the house’s premises you’re fine. The legend has it that if you successfully take a shot at each house without getting caught, you guarantee yourself a river house. My block successfully completed the run and was placed into a river house the next day so I guess there’s some truth to it.

Analysis: College is weird. Every school has their own traditions and rituals that seem utterly ridiculous to just about everyone other than the actual students of a given school. And maybe I’m wrong, but based on everything I’ve heard about various schools, it seems like the prestige of a school is directly correlated to the strangeness of said traditions and rituals. Ivy leagues, generally being in the upper echelon of prestige, always seem to be the weirdest, but I think that adds to the overall mythos they possess. Why are a bunch of highly intelligent and ambitious students running from house to house, drinking an ungodly amount of alcohol along the way? To appease the housing gods, of course. It’s a completely absurd idea, but at the same time, it’s hilariously fascinating. The fact that nearly every freshman participates in such a strange ritual speaks to the universities’ culture, as just based on what I’ve heard from my informant, Harvard has a very unique and unified culture among the student body. And for the ritual to be conducted yearly by every incoming class illustrates just how strong folklore like this can be.

Examination Outfit

Age: 20
Occupation: Undergraduate Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Language: English

Text: I tend to get very stressed over exams in college. It is not for a reason revolving around a lack of preparation, rather a sense of worry attributed to the cost of tuition. Because of this, I have a superstition that I truly believe works in aiding my best effort during these exams. I wear the same, cozy, outfit to each and every exam. I ensure that my grey sweatpants and grey sweatshirt and ready for me to wear the night before any major test, to ensure that I can succeed.

Context: Informant describes first performing in accordance to this superstition their sophomore year of college when they began the organic chemistry series. Though they are a very smart individual who vigorously prepares, they have recently believed in this superstition due to wearing this outfit during a crucial examination. Informant relays a small story describing their first organic chemistry exam, where they didn’t feel prepared enough but still received an exceptional grade. They were wearing the gey sweatpants and sweatshirt during this exam. From that point on, the informant has decided to continue wearing this outfit during academic examinations, furthering their belief in the clothings’ magical effect on them during the test- taking process.

Analysis:

I find this superstition to be very interesting in its ability to help me understand the origins of superstitions. The informant describes a story in which they first experienced what they believe to be a magical effect produced by the wearing of a specific outfit. This event occurred at a time where they did not believe that their own skills were purely responsible for the grade they achieved. Because of this, they are now convinced that the clothing they were had a magical role in assisting them. I am now firm in believing that this archetype, one in which some inanimate object or odd activity is used as the justification for success in replacement of ones own ability, is prominent in the creation of superstitions.

Mount Holyoke Pangynaskeia Day

Age: 22

Text: My sister tells me about a tradition at her school, Mount Holyoke. It’s called Pangy, short for Pangynaskeia Day. She told me it’s the last Friday of the spring semester, kind of part Earth Day, part May Day, part spring fun, and part celebrating women. 

Context: She has never been before, because in past years she’s been busy or studying abroad ,and is going for the first time this year. She said she’s excited because she hears there are sometimes chickens and llamas and bunnies. There is also a may pole and a cultural festival, as well as good food on the lawn. She said they can wear whatever but she specified flowy dresses because it’s springtime and said, “Think witchcraft circles and dancing I guess but happier.”

Analysis: Pangy Day is an example of a festival that happens with the seasons, and it draws on older traditions such as May Day and Earth Day. However, it is reimagined in a modern college setting. Rooted in place based tradition, it’s a ritual that all Mount Holyoke students and alums have in common. Even though she has never been, the fact she knows a lot about it and is excited for it shows how these traditions live within the community and are anticipated every year.

Scripps College Library Tradition

Age: 22

Text: A. told me about a Scripps College tradition where the doors that look like the main entrance to Denison Library only open twice a year. They open during freshmen orientation, where you walk through the front of the library and sign your name and hometown in a book that has all of your peers and classmates in it. Then you walk out through the library and out through the side onto the lawn wher eyou just connect more with your peers and your endless new space for your college life. And you don’t walk through the doors again until your graduation day where you’re in your green robe. You walk in through the side of the library out to the front and then onto the lawn to graduate.

Context: It’s meant to be a very nice metaphor that when you get to Scripps, you walk into the library and gain all this knowledge over your four years and then when it’s time to leave your library, you go into the real world. It’s symbolic how Scripps provides you with all these opportunities and knowledge while you’re there and when it’s your time to leave you take this knowledge and spread it!

Analysis: This is a rite of passage for Scripps students and symbolizes their college experience through institutional folklore. The opening of the doors is turned sacred and the fact that the experience happens at the beginning and the end of the college experience, like bookends, makes this ritual symbolic of personal transformation. It only happens in liminal spaces, where you cross over from different phases of life. Additionally, the signing of the book lets students forever be a part of the community and a shared experience. The meaning is constantly evolving with each new class.

The UCLA Fountain Legend

Students at UCLA have a tradition where they touch their hands into the inverted fountain on campus, which is twelve feet wide and five feet deep, during their freshman orientation. The informant told me about this tradition over a phone call, and it said that if you touch your hand into it again before you graduate, you will be cursed to spend another quarter at UCLA and graduate late. This story has been passed down from the older generations of grades to the current generation. The informant is a student at UCLA in his junior year, and he is apart of a fraternity. He heard this legend from an older student at his fraternity.

AGE: 21

DATE: February 18th

Language: English

Nationality: White

Occupation: Student

Residence: UCLA

ANALYSIS: I believe that this story was made to both bond students together during orientation to participate in a tradition that is specific to the campus and UCLA, and to also act as a superstition that can scare the freshman into not touching the fountain. It is apart of the culture at UCLA, and the story is also a way for the students to make a memory during orientation when it is their turn to touch the fountain, as well as when they graduate and get to partake in the tradition again before they leave.