At Penn, toast-covered football fields, goal posts in the Schuylkill River and naked freshmen running through the Quadrangle are anything but unusual -- they're tradition.
While classes, parties and late-night pizza binges are common on most college campuses, some of what has become customary at Penn over the last 262 years is simply bizarre.
Here is a synopsis of what to expect over the next eight months:
1. Avoid The Compass: Upperclassmen love to remind freshmen that as they venture off in their traditional packs to New Student Orientation events, fraternity parties and dining hall meals, they should be aware of the Compass in the middle of Locust Walk. According to tradition, freshmen who step across this sacred spot will fail their first college midterms.
2. Econ Scream: The midnight before their first microeconomics midterm, yelling freshmen gather atop the junior balcony in the Quad for a stress-relieving study break. And if that doesn't ease the stress of staring at supply-and-demand tables, freshmen can opt to take part in a more risque but less popular Penn tradition -- the Econ Streak.
3. Toast-tossing: Always concerned about tradition -- including alcohol's role in most celebrations -- students decided to hang on to the custom of throwing a toast between the third and fourth quarters at home football games even after Franklin Field introduced a no-alcohol policy many years ago. Now, cheering "Here's a toast to dear old Penn," students throw toasted bread onto the field. Make sure to stick some in your bag as you head for the game.
4. Uprooting the Goalpost: When Penn wins the Ivy League football title, rowdy fans storm the field, pull the goalpost from the ground and proudly heave it into the Schuylkill, despite the disapproval of safety-concerned administrators. Unfortunately, this tradition is not as easy to pull off as some of the others -- in 2000, when Penn beat Harvard, 300 eager students attempted to budge the posts without any success.
5. Homecoming: Penn alumni cannot bear to stay away from their alma mater for too long, and many find their way back to Philadelphia for a Saturday football game and accompanying festivities during a designated fall weekend. Donning their favorite Penn apparel from years past, they cheer on their team, rekindle old friendships and up the average age on campus to about 50.
6. Spring Fling: This weekend-long carnival/beerfest is the climax of the spring semester. Usually held during the weekend before the end of classes, undergraduates cram into the Quad to enjoy carnival booths, student group performances and food vendors during the day. On Friday night, the Social Planning and Events Committee hosts a concert on Hill Field featuring high-profile performers. In past years, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Blues Traveler and George Clinton have performed. Parties abound on and off campus starting early Thursday evening and running straight through late Sunday night.
7. Hey Day: Chewing on styrofoam top hats and banging their wooden canes, juniors in bright red shirts march through campus on the last day of spring semester classes. Cheering "Hey, Hey," the procession ends up at College Hall, where University President Judith Rodin proclaims them seniors. Like a few of the other traditions at Penn, alcohol finds its way into this one as the new seniors celebrate well into the evening, reminiscing over their fleeting college years and preparing for summer.
