Tag Archives: USC

USC Helenes Welcome Night Ceremony

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/4/12
Primary Language: English

The informant is a Junior at USC. She joined the USC Helenes during the Fall Semester of 2010 and was elected as Vice President for the 2012 calendar year term in office. As Vice President, she is responsible for new member recruitment.

As part of the USC Helenes myself, I was in attendance at Welcome Night. I’ll briefly describe the event. Welcome Night is one of the most celebrated traditional events held by the USC Helenes. It is our initiation ceremony for the incoming class of Rosebuds each semester and it is a night that most Helenes will never forget. Technically Welcome Night is a mandatory event, so every active member of the organization is present. General Members and the E-board arrived at the Mudd Hall of Philosophy Courtyard early so that they’d be ready once the Rosebuds arrive. The Rosebuds meet up with our Membership Chair at a different location. To get to the “mystery location” they stand alphabetically, single file, blind-folded and hold onto one another’s shoulders as they are guided across campus to the location. Once they arrived, still blind-folded, the E-board positioned the Rosebuds along the steps outside of Mudd Hall so that they faced the courtyard. Silently waiting, all of the General Members of Helenes hold lit candles. The Rosebuds open their eyes and the entire organization cheered for them. Then, the Vice President gave a quick welcoming speech and the Membership Chair read the name of each girl, presenting them in alphabetical order. Each Rosebud walked forward when her name was called, receiving a rose and a creed from the President and Vice President. After all of the girls were presented, the Membership Chair gave a short speech about this Rosebud class, why they are so special, and why they were selected as Helenes above all others this semester. Finally, the President and Vice President will lead the Rosebuds as well as all of the members in reciting the organization’s creed, after which the Rosebuds are considered officially initiated as Helenes.

After the event, I interviewed my informant, the Vice President, asking her some questions about why the event is performed and what it means to the organization:

Me: How does it feel to welcome this new group of Rosebuds after having been one yourself? Is the initiation more meaningful this time around? In what ways is the night different by being on the other end?

Informant: Well, I think Welcome Night is totally more meaningful in subsequent years—more so with every semester. This is saying something because if you ask any Rosebud, Welcome Night immediately holds great significance and importance to them. But as a returning member watching a new group of Rosebuds crossing over there is more experience, wisdom, and personal reflection that one can make. All I can think about is the amazing journey they’re about to start. I look at the Rosebuds and that they’re going to be making so many life-changing connections now. I know their journey within the Helenes is just beginning. This is why the night is so different, and in my opinion even more meaningful, from the other end…I’m so excited for the future of the organization and the girls who hold it up.

Me: Why do you think the Helenes continue to have this ceremony? What does it mean?

Informant: For one, it’s our formal initiation of members. Logistically, it’s kind of something we need to have. But maybe more importantly, tradition is an incredibly important component of Helenes. This is our most traditional event—it’s how we’ve initiated members for years and years.  It is a common experience that all Helenes share with one another and it’s the way in which we continue to honor one another and our organization.

Me: What’s the ceremony mean to you personally?

Informant: The Welcome Night ceremony is mostly about just that—being welcoming and welcomed. It’s mostly for our Rosebuds, an opportunity for us to shower them with love and show them how much this organization will mean to them.

Me: I’m just going to assume that you like this event, but why do you like it?

Informant: Haha, of course I like the tradition! I like it because I get to see ALL of my favorite people in one place…and because it allows me to reflect on this wonderful organization and opportunity that I’ve been given in life and reminds me to be grateful for these phenomenal women I’m surrounded by.

I agree with almost everything that the informant had to say. The ceremony is definitely a formal initiation, but it’s also a great way to remember my own time as a Rosebud and cherish all the memories from that time in my life. It really is an incredibly important time in Helenes membership, and it formulates what the rest of your experience in the organization will be. Also, something that my informant didn’t really mention is the fact that because everyone goes through their own Welcome Night ceremony, the event acts a mutual experience every girl in the organization can reminisce about and bond over. By traditionally enacting the ceremony, the organization is perpetuating those memories that will be shared by each member.

Luck on A Game Day

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, USC
Performance Date: April 2012
Primary Language: English

On Home-Game Saturdays during the Fall semester, USC’s main campus is covered with tailgate parties. These range from tame alumni and fan cookouts, to blackout-inducing keg stand ragers. Regardless of the University’s opponent, a few things remains constant: drinking, eating, rivalrous talk, and superstition. As kick-off approaches the tailgates begin to wind down and the tailgaters head en masse to the Coliseum. Most tailgaters will head to the Coliseum through Trousdale, the small brick street in the middle of campus, regardless of where on campus they were actually tailgating. A graduating senior explains the ritual that follows this procession to the Coliseum :

” So you walk down Trousdale past Tommy Trojan, and Shumway fountain and then when you get to the very end of Trousdale right before Expo there’s this big lamppost. Right before crossing the street for the Coliseum you kick the the lamp post. But you kick it with your heel, so backwards. If you miss you’ve given the whole game bad luck. If you don’t kick it and you’re a USC student that’s bad luck too. So everyone who walks by and is walking to the game for USC has to kick it. Sometimes you have to wait ’cause  it gets kind of crowded. And people can kick you by accident sometimes. I guess that’s bad luck too.”

This ritual reflects and anxiety of the vast population of USC students and aficionados. It is amazing to see the number of people who are otherwise unaffiliated with USC who go to tailgates and participate in this ritual. Undergraduate students seem to take the superstition particularly to heart, often reminding each other to enact the ritual or scolding those who do it wrong.

In a game where spectators invest so much (financially going to games & funding tailgates, physically enduring the long hours of tailgating and exposure during the game, and emotionally) in the success of their team it must be frustrating to have the entire outcome out of their control. Participating in such rituals gives them a sense that the outcome is also to a certain extent out of their teams control – and therefore they can not be held completely responsible. Loosing then becomes a matter of bad luck instead of choosing the wrong team. It also gives a little more control to the spectator as their individual actions can finally contribute to the outcome. By kicking the ‘post USC fans are doing their part in fighting off any bad luck to plague their team.

Monday Night Dinner

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Ohio/California
Performance Date: April 18, 2012
Primary Language: English
Language: French

My informant told me about the tradition of “Monday Night Dinner” at sororities at USC

“Every Monday all the girls come to the sorority house for dinner. They all dress in fancy attire and arrive at the houses around 4:45pm. The new members make “deliveries”, which is when before dinner they bring gifts and notes to the different frats that are having Monday Night Dinner too. After they finish they come in and sit down to dinner. As they eat, boys from different frats come in and make deliveries to the house. The girls clap as they come in and each gift is delivered to the specific girl. They can be anything from a romantic bouquet to a funny card from a friend. It is also a way for frats and sororities to strengthen their relationships with each other by sending deliveries to certain houses.”

My informant told me that she enjoys the tradition, and she likes to take advantage of it for flirting with boys. If you like someone, you can send them a delivery.

I am in a sorority on campus and I enjoy the tradition of Monday Night Dinner as well. I have utilized it to ask certain boys to our House Invites and also to send funny notes to friends. I’ve also noticed that boys who are usually very shy will use this as a way to communicate with girls that they like. I’ve also noticed that if girls “hook up” with boys over the weekend it is often customary for the boy to send the girl a delivery on monday, such as chocolates or flowers, as (although it seems ridiculous) a “thank you, I’d like to kiss you again some time” kind of delivery.

I also talked to my friends who are in sororities in other schools and none of them were familiar with the tradition of “Monday Night Dinner”. It seems to be a unique tradition to the Greek System at USC. It has been happening for as long as many of my friends can remember, so I assume that it is something that the Greek life likes to keep alive to pride itself on its heritage.

USC Football Superstition

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Poway, California
Performance Date: January 2007
Primary Language: English

“Before a USC football game, when walking from the campus to the Coliseum, it is good luck to kick the bases of the flagpoles at the intersection of Trousdale Parkway and Exposition Boulevard.”

 

My informant first heard of this superstition when walking to the first Trojans home game of the 2005 season. He had been to a Trojans football game before, but only with his parents, and they did not pass the intersection of Trousdale and Exposition.  On this particular day, he was walking with a few friends, and on their way to the Coliseum they noticed that everyone was kicking the flagpoles at the intersection.  So they joined in and gave the flagpoles a kick.  My informant didn’t need to ask, and easily figured out this was a traditional practice for good luck.

This tradition is shared by every fan wearing cardinal and gold that passes by that intersection.  My informant suggested that a long time ago, a Trojan fan gave a swift kick to the flagpole, and the football team preformed well and decimated their opponent.  From then on, they probably continued to kick the flagpole before every game and others began to join in.  While this may not be the official history of the superstition, it is likely that it was under these or similar circumstances that the superstition came about.

While many superstitions are believed to affect one’s own luck and fortune, this one is believed to influence the performance of a sports team.  So if a fan passed through the intersection without kicking a flagpole, and the Trojans lost, that fan could be considered liable for that day’s loss.  On the other hand, this is an instance where fans can unite and believe that they actually did something to help their team.

USC “Fight On” Gesture

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English

Sports fans at the University of Southern California take their traditions very seriously, even right down to the Homecoming Game tailgate on campus. There are certain things that the football fans of the Trojans, (USC’s team name), do before, during, and after the home games.

USC has become a very big partying school in the sense that the day of home games are the only time that you can have open containers of alcohol on campus. It has become such a tradition to party before the game that the school has recognized this and allows tailgating on campus.

My informant told me about the rituals involved in attending the games. First, everyone walks over to Exposition Park, which is near the Coliseum where the team plays. On the way there, everyone kicks one of the light posts that are on the very edge of campus before crossing Exposition Blvd. As a matter of fact, my informant told me that if someone does not do this, other fans to kick the light posts sometimes turn them back. This is just a superstition to ensure that the team wins. My informant did not know when this tradition was started, just that it has become so widespread that all students, fans, and alumni perform the ritual.

Another tradition is to make the fight on sign with your right hand. It looks like you’re giving a peace sign, but it is actually a symbol of the team’s slogan, “Fight On,” and is often shaken to the beat of the fight song that the band always plays at the games.

When the game is over, everyone walks back across Exposition Blvd. and once again kicks the light posts for good luck for the next game or the next season.

Traditional dress is the school colors, Cardinal and Gold, and sometimes traditional food is labeled as ‘death dogs,’ the hot dogs that local vendors sell right before and after the game all along Exposition Park.