13 Weirdest College Traditions

Could your school be any weirder? No.

1. Mirror Lake Jump - Ohio State University

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Thousands of students jump into the lake the night before the infamous Ohio State-Michigan game.

2. Streaking on the Rotunda - University of Virginia

readthehook.com

Students streak starting at the Rotunda steps, run across the lawn to kiss or smack the statue of Homer's bum, and then run back to the Rotunda.

3. Seventh Annual Nitrogen Day - Reed University

blogs.reed.edu

This school tradition is always the seventh annual because nitrogen is the 7th element in the periodic table. But the holiday is spent with students attending a campus festival with free food, entertainment, and even a haiku recital.

4. Shoe Tree - Murray State University

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Tradition states that college sweethearts who fall in love at the university and eventually marry must come back to the tree and nail two shoes (one from each partner) to it. The shoes are often marked with the couple's anniversary, and sometimes, couples return to the tree to post baby shoes once starting a family.

5. Orgo Night - Columbia University

schoolworldonline.org

This twice-a-year event is ultimately motivated by the desire to annoy organic chemistry students. Each semester the night before the organic chemistry final, the school marching band bursts into the library playing the alma mater at full volume in order to distract students from studying.

6. Spree Day - Clark University

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On Spree Day, classes are spontaneously cancelled, and the entire student body heads to the Green for a fun day including different kinds of activities and concerts.

7. Mountain Day - Smith College

smith.edu

Mountain Day provides an unexpected break from classes and other obligations, and many students spend the day enjoying outdoor activities, in particular, hiking on Mount Holyoke in Skinner State Park. The early morning ringing of the Mary Lyon Hall bell announces to the campus that it’s Mountain Day.

8. Dooley Week - Emory University

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The unofficial mascot of the university is Dooley, a skeleton figure dressed in black. In the spring during Dooley's Week, he wanders the campus and shows up in classrooms to let students out of class for the day.

9. Birthdays - Occidental College

thexanhmy.com

On their birthdays, students are ceremoniously tossed into the college's Gilman Fountain by their fellow students and friends.

10. The Janss Steps - UCLA

dailybruin.com

This myth states that a Janss brother had himself buried under the sixth step of the Janss Staircase on campus and that students must never set foot on the sixth step from the bottom or they will spend an extra quarter or more on campus.

11. Hacking - Massachusetts Institute of Technology

foreveryoungadult.com

MIT has a long running tradition of playing epic pranks that are carried out in secret, with the majority of the pranks involving hacking fellow students computers.

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