Tag Archives: college

Story – Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: MArch 28, 2008
Primary Language: English

My friend Cameron was telling me that the library at his university, Brigham Young University, closes at midnight every night and like incredibly awesome music plays on the loudspeaker. Cool music like “Pirates of the Caribbean” or like “Lord of the Rings.” Cameron told me about these legendary upperclassmen, this one guy and a group of his friends, at BYU who spent the night at the library, against the school’s honor code and like if you get caught you can get like expelled. And so at about two a.m., the loudspeaker came on saying something like “You may think you’re so cool and can get away with hiding out in the library, but we’ll find you!” I’m not sure what the exact words were and they weren’t sure if it was like a recording or a person you know. And Cameron and his friends don’t know if this story is true or not. They don’t even know if the loudspeaker comes on past closing to scare students who have overstayed their welcome, but they’re planning on finding out for themselves sometime.

Both Emilie and her friend Cameron are Mormon and lived in Irvine, CA. The two of them are really close friends. They have grown up together since the fourth grade, they went to the same church, they attended the same high school, and they hang out together often. Her friend currently attends Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. They stay in contact and her friend told this story to her over winter break when they were telling each other stories about their college experiences thus far since they are both freshmen.

Emilie said that Cameron and his friends are a bit rowdy. She explained that the atmosphere and area of BYU is quite different from L.A. She said that at BYU they have police reports, which are similar to the DPS crime alerts at the University of Southern California, but the material reported is so different. She gave the example that in the DPS crime alerts there would be mugs and thefts while in the police reports, there would be statements such as “there was a suspicious guy with a mustache by the library.” Cameron told her that his friends and he have already been in a couple of police reports for playing with fireworks and swimming in the pool before it opened, but they were never caught. Emilie also explained that there was an honor code at BYU that all the students had to sign and follow all year round, including when they went home for holidays such as Thanksgiving. Some parts of the code include no drinking, no smoking, no facial hair except for mustaches for the males, and no long hair for the males. Other stipulations include special hours for members of the opposite gender to be able to visit and no member of the opposite gender allowed in a dorm room past midnight.

The rules and regulations that restrict and almost oppress student behavior may encourage students like Cameron and his friends to act rebellious and find fun, sneaky activities to do. Also, since everyone involved in these activities is male, it ties into Marina Warner’s chapter in her book Six Myths of Our Time that discusses the mischievous, playful behavior of boys. Cameron heard this story from another male upperclassman at BYU. Therefore, this legend can be considered a friend of a friend story or a FOAF.

Warner, Marina. Six Myths of Our Time: Little Angels, Little Monsters, Beautiful Beasts, and More. Pg. 25-42. New York: Vintage Books, 1994.

Joke – University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: March 29, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Cantonese, Mandarin

I’m going to say a word and I want you to spell them out loud and add “ness” at the end.

Ok, ipod.

I-P-O-D-ness.

ihome.

I-H-O-M-E-ness.

itoy.

I-T-O-Y-ness.

imap.

I-M-A-P-ness.

Pierre is a spring admit to the University of Southern California and is a part of the a capella group on campus called the Trojan Men, which is a group that sings with only vocals and no music. He first heard this joke at a Trojan Men party a few days before the item was collected here. One of his fellow members of the group told this joke to a small group of them, and Pierre thought it was really funny. So he has told many of his friends this joke afterwards. He often does not remember the exact words before imap and changes them with each retelling, but according to him those words do not matter. The most important one, the one that must be correct is the last one. This is where the punch line of the joke lies. When spelled aloud, i-m-a-p-ness actually makes the speller say, “I am a penis.”

The Trojan Men consists of all males and, therefore, it is logical that this joke was told to this particular audience. When Pierre retold it for this collection, he was retelling it in a dorm room full of all males as well. Although there were also a couple of girls listening during the party and also to whom Pierre has told this joke, the audience is usually male. It may be more natural for males to tell this joke to other males because it involves the male physiology. Like many jokes, this one brings light-heartedness to issues of sexuality and gender that are not usually discussed in social situations.

Also, the Trojan Men member that told this joke at the party explained to his audience that he had actually heard it from a twelve-year-old boy. He was a camp counselor and grew close to the children attending the camp, one of whom was this twelve-year-old. So one day at camp, the boy simply told him the joke. The Trojan Men member and his audience then had a discussion about how “they just get younger and younger,” referring to how it seems like young children now have knowledge about more adult themes and issues. They also mentioned how it seems like young children know more and more about these issues. There was a general agreement that when they were younger, had not spoken about penises until they were around the age of fourteen or fifteen. This ties into the idea that society views children as innocent and pure and finds it shocking when they are not, as Marina Warner discusses in her book Six Myths of Our Time. Children often tell jokes dealing with the human body, sexuality, and other topics that are deemed adult topics because jokes appear to be the only venue that they can rely on to discuss these issues.

Warner, Marina. Six Myths of Our Time: Little Angels, Little Monsters, Beautiful Beasts, and More. Pg. 43-62. New York: Vintage Books, 1994.

Tradition

Nationality: Irish
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Scottsdale, AZ
Performance Date: April 13, 2008
Primary Language: English

In the Greek system when a sorority and a fraternity member are in a serious romantic relationship the fraternity guy can “pin” his girlfriend. Every system has different variations of the same basic tradition. Basically, when the guy wants to pin his girl friend he tells the president of his house who tells the president of the sorority that the girlfriend is in. They keep it a secret from the girlfriend while planning the pinning. Then one night after the chapter meeting, when the entire house is present the president will announce to the sorority to head downstairs to the dining room for a special ceremony. Right away everyone knows that it’s a pinning. All the girls make a large circle in the dining room and turn the lights down low. The president lights a candle and it is passed around the room and passed past the girl getting pinned, once it passes her the candle switches direction and moves back towards the girl to be pinned. Once the girl has it in her hand her sisters to her left and right blow the candle out, the house claps.

Once this happens the president opens the door and members of the boyfriend’s fraternity come in one by one usually dressed in suits, each with a single rose in their hand. Each brother hands the rose to the girlfriend and gives her a smile and a hug. Lastly the boyfriend comes usually with a bouquet of roses and kisses his girlfriend. Next the two closest friends of the boyfriend and the girlfriend tell stories about the relationship between them, funny, serious, anecdotal etc. Lastly the boyfriend tells his girlfriend how much he loves her and gives her his fraternity pin as a symbol of his commitment to her and her official invitation into the fraternity’s family. This is the end of the ceremony, however each fraternity has a different variation of this basic ceremony.

I have witnessed 3 girls get pinned from my sorority in this past year. The particular pinning described above was the most formal and respectful. The other pinnings were less formal and frankly, more embarrassing for the girl. Because each house cultivates its own traditions each pinning will differ depending on the house. To pin your girlfriend was once synonymous with proposing; however with time it has lost a lot of that connotation.

Currently, when a girl is pinned it means that her boyfriend is putting her first in his life. He is putting her before the brotherhood, which is a very big step for any fraternity brother. When initiated brothers take a vow of allegiance to the fraternity and pinning is one of the ways to respectfully break the vow. Also, symbolized by the rose received by each brother, when a girl is pinned she is welcomed into the house, into the family of that particular fraternity. Usually only juniors or seniors are pinned. The couple has usually been dating for more than a year as well. Pinnings don’t happen unless the relationship is very serious and long term.

Pinning is a public display of affection and commitment accepted in the Greek community and an active tradition. For sororities pinning usually embodies the girlish fantasy of a wonderful boyfriend who isn’t afraid to show how he feels, and secretly, every girl wants to be pinned at some point.

Rite of Passage – University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California

Nationality: Brittish
Age: 19
Occupation: Tau Kappa Epsilon Pledge Educator
Residence: London, UK
Performance Date: Spring semester 2008
Primary Language: English

Rites of Passage: Being a Pledge and Performing a “Think About It.”

During the spring semester of my first year at the University of Southern California, I decided to become a part of the large Greek community on campus. After debating about where to pledge, I finally decided on the fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon, also abbreviated as TKE or Teke. Known for being rowdy and loyal to their brothers, I knew joining the house would be no easy task. Before one can cross into the bond and gain the loyalty of those in the house, one must go through a pledge semester. Pledging, at least for Teke, involves physical workouts and many chores around the house, all delegated by a person known as the Hegemon, or pledge educator. My Hegemon’s name was Aaron Pattison and he loved a type of customary lore performed by pretty much every pledge to pass through Teke’s door.

Think about it. Normally those words make you sit back and ponder a statement or consider a proposition, but in Teke, those words invoke an almost instinctive reaction. When a frater (active Teke member) asks a pledge to “think about it,” the pledge must immediately get down into three points of contact no matter where he stands. “Thinking about it” means pledges must position their bodies parallel to the ground, keeping the back straight as they put one elbow on the ground with a hand under the chin, while the other arm rests behind the back. The three points of contact that must be maintained mean the elbow and feet should be the only things touching the ground in such a way that done properly, should allow a frater to balance a cup or bottle on the pledges’ backs.

“Think about its” are extremely difficult and tiresome, often resulting in very sore elbows. Normally, a pledge meeting on Monday night is the only time “think about its” are performed but as mentioned before, a frater can ask a pledge to demonstrate the proper technique. Pledge meetings and “think about its” are simply physical tasks designed to test the pledges strength of body, mind, and will to persevere. Whether or not the pledge does the physical tests well does not matter, as long as he shows the determination and heart to try until he can no longer continue. Hegemon leads the meetings and “think about its,” for his job is to lead pledges through such rites of passage into the fraternity. Not only do pledges learn from Hegemon about the house, but also they build a closer relationship with their pledge brothers and Hegemon himself as they struggle and toil together.

After completing my pledge semester, I feel that “think about its” did their purpose. Not only did I become stronger both physically and mentally, but also I respect and love those around me who stuck through the pain as we helped each other get through pledge meetings. Also, not only do “think about its” help pledges grow as a person, they earn them a rightful spot in the house. Pledging is not easy and sometimes quitting seems like a good idea, but knowing you did not quit engenders feelings of pride for outlasting countless “think about its.”

Tradition – University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California

Nationality: African-American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Valencia, CA
Performance Date: MArch 21, 2008
Primary Language: English

UCLA Tradition: The Undie Run

This particular tradition is actually something I was able to take part in, even though I attend UCLA’s rival school USC. My brother enrolled in UCLA as a transfer student and therefore came in a junior. He commuted his first quarter, so it was not until his second quarter when he moved into on-campus housing that he began to experience the life and traditions of a UCLA student. One such tradition is the undie run, undie being short for underwear of course. This event takes place on the Wednesday of finals week when students strip down to their underwear and make a mad dash across campus. There is no particular reason for the run other than a way to burn off energy and relieve a little bit of the tension and stress associated with finals. After the run, students normally gather in the quad and exhibit school pride, whether cursing their cross-town rivals or partaking in other Bruin traditions such as the UCLA 8 count.

UCLA is not the only school with such a tradition however; there are many variations of stress-relieving traditions organized by the student body that garner high participation on other college campuses as well. Typically, students come together, like those at UCLA, en masse and create some sort of commotion or ruckus as method of coping with the rigors of finals. In fact, USC has its own version of the undie run. Deemed the Fountain Run, seniors and other upperclassmen run around campus, looking to jump in one of USC’s many fountains during the last week of class. This is because they are almost done with school entirely and therefore fear no disciplinary repercussions.

I feel these traditions create feelings of school pride and are a welcomed spectacle, even if they cause a large commotion. Each school has its own customs unique to the campus, which students feel makes them closer to the school for having experienced such an exclusive event. Although I have not witnessed or partaken in a USC Fountain Run yet, I am excited for when I finally do get the opportunity.