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With Fran Northcutt, Honors Adviser, Hunter College of the City University of New York
Tradition, Tradition!
HEAD Start
Whether you're studying in the hallowed halls of a centuries-old liberal arts college or the utilitarian corridors of an urban university built in the expansionist 1960s, your school is bound to have some traditions.

HEAD Lines
If you're at Brown University and need good luck, you might rub the nose of the statue of John Hay. If you're at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, you'd rub the foot of the statue of Abraham Lincoln instead. And if you're at Wesleyan and don't have anything else to do, you might assemble your crew and carry off the Douglas Cannon.

Now that you've been at college for a semester, you've probably participated in or at least heard about some similar tradition of your campus. If you haven't, think about why not - is it just that you're not getting out and about nearly enough? Or have the traditions lapsed into obscurity? Maybe it's time to revive them. Or does your college not have any quirky rituals? If that's the case, why not make your mark and make one up?

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From Other HEADS
MY FRESHMAN YEAR I was studying for an economics exam, a notoriously stressful experience. Since there were several classes all taking the same course, there were a lot of people studying for the same exam. That's a lot of collective stress. Around midnight the de-stress valve known as the "econ scream" opened up. First, I heard one scream from outside the window, then another. Soon, the quad was filled with shouts of students sticking their heads out of their dorm windows to scream. Somehow, hearing all those screams relaxed me, and made me feel like I wasn't alone.

-- DANIEL
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA


AT MY SCHOOL, one of the freshman traditions is to go in this fountain. By the end of my freshman year, I still hadn't gone in that fountain. One night, one of my guy friends and I decided to go. The fountain wasn't turned on, but we sat up at the top of this dry fountain for three or four hours. It was one of the best experiences. We talked about everything - our expectations for college and for life. I think we started to understand what life is really about.

-- KERRY
GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY




Web Resources
Because we know you want to learn more about that Douglas Cannon custom... www.wesleyan.edu/libr/schome/cannon/cannon.htm

You've got to admire the men of Cal Poly for creating the "No-Shave November" tradition... www.mustangdaily.net/news/2007/11/15/Columns/The-Month.Of.Mountain.Men-3103057.shtml

Dickinson College has so many traditions, they made a book just to keep track! www.dickinson.edu/cnExtra/detail.cfm?370


HoH Tip
Yes, have fun with college traditions, but don't be like the fraternity brothers in one of those afterschool specials...
www.stophazing.org/laws.html


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