9 wacky traditions Pennsylvania colleges keep alive

From throwing slices of bread to screaming away the stress, here are nine weird traditions that help Pennsylvania colleges build community.

The start of fall means students will soon be heading back to school, and when they do, colleges and universities will be continuing storied traditions to welcome new students into the fold. Some of these traditions, however, are a little strange. Read on to learn about nine wacky ways that students in Pennsylvania ensure their college years are memorable.

1. The Penn State University band wakes up freshmen

Perhaps the cruelest college tradition takes place in State College, where each morning before a home football game with a noon kickoff, the Penn State Blue Band rouses freshmen students in East Halls with a 6 a.m. wake-up call below the dorm windows. The band plays the fight song and other spirited tunes to get the students ready for a game day. Like we said, cruel. But also, hilarious.

2. The primal scream

The “primal scream” is a popular tradition at a number of colleges across the country, because what makes us all human if not the urge to shriek into the night during times of stress? In Pennsylvania, Swarthmore College and Messiah University host their own primal scream events, where students all yell together during midterms, final exams, or some other period of academic pressure as a form of stress management. And at the University of Pennsylvania, there’s a shared scream specifically for introductory microeconomics students before their first midterm, since they’re experiencing a surplus of anxiety.

3. Throwing toast at the University of Pennsylvania

During the third quarter of home football games at the University of Pennsylvania, rather than raise a glass when the song “Drink a Highball” blares and ends with the line “Here’s a toast to dear old Penn,” students go extra literal, tossing actual toast onto the field. They aren’t limited to throwing slices of toast, either; sometimes they throw muffins, bagels, or entire bread loaves. As the story goes, the tradition arose when students had to get creative during Prohibition, since they couldn’t raise the university’s unofficial cocktail in a toast. We should also note it’s kind of bizarre that the university has an unofficial cocktail.

4. The Slippery Rock University football score

OK, this one is actually a University of Michigan tradition, but stay with us, because it involves a Pennsylvania college. Each home football game, the University of Michigan announcer shares the scores of some of the biggest college football games that night—plus the score of Slippery Rock University’s football team. Why? Back in 1959, a UM announcer thought that “Slippery Rock” was a funny name (accurate) and included it in his list of scores, getting the crowd extremely excited if the Western Pennsylvania team was winning. The tradition stuck, and now tiny Slippery Rock has thousands of fans at Michigan’s flagship university.

5. Bed Races at Lehigh University

Engineering students at Lehigh University in Bethlehem began racing with their beds in the 1960s, but the Bed Races tradition eventually ended due to the perceived danger of careening down the street in a twin bed—until the races were revived in 2012 with new safety measures. For example, rather than pushing students’ actual dormitory beds, the school designed bedlike vehicles for the students to race, which are much safer, yet still silly and fun. The Bed Races are just one of the events marking Lehigh’s Rivalry Week each November.

6. The Crum Regatta at Swarthmore College

To participate in the Crum Regatta in the school’s Crum Creek, Swarthmore College students must build their own boats. To that end, this Delaware County “regatta,” a 500-meter race, is held with boats constructed of cardboard, plastic, or strange found material. As you might expect, not all the boats hold up in the water, but at least all students can celebrate at the bonfire following the homemade boat race.

7. Rubbing the Pitt Panther’s nose

The University of Pittsburgh mascot is the panther, which becomes obvious to anyone who sees the large bronze statue of the animal—known as the Pitt Panther—outside the William Pitt Union. And if you look closely at this statue, you might see that the finish on the panther’s nose is slightly worn. That’s because students have rubbed the panther statue’s nose for good luck for decades, particularly before exams or sporting events. Does the Pitt Panther actually grant luck? It’s impossible to say: We know not whom the panther has judged worthy.

8. Juniata College’s Mountain Day

In our humble opinion, the oldest tradition at Juniata College, Mountain Day, should be adopted by everyone. For more than 125 years, classes have been cancelled for Mountain Day, and students and faculty take a trip to relax (and play students vs. faculty tug-of-war) along nearby Raystown Lake. But here’s the best part: Mountain Day is celebrated on a random day during the fall semester, and students don’t know what day it will be until a foghorn blares at 5 a.m. on the morning of Mountain Day, alerting everyone that it’s time for a surprise vacation. Sign us up, please!

9. Painting the Fence at Carnegie Mellon University

Painting the Fence at Carnegie Mellon University is no unofficial student pastime—this tradition has rules and regulations passed by the student government, thank you very much. “The Fence” is an area on CMU’s Pittsburgh campus where student groups can paint a message, though they need to meet certain criteria: painting can only take place between midnight and sunrise; the entire fence must be painted or the work is considered vandalism; painters must use hand tools to paint, no spray painting; and the Fence is “guarded” if at least two students are in the gravel area surrounding it. These rules aren’t always followed by the university, however; for example, when the U.S. president visited the school last month, the university administration had messages on the Fence painted over.