Aggie students celebrate old and new traditions
Kissing under a full moon, famous ice cream, sledding down Old Main Hill and even riding naked on a bull statue are all part of the traditions that USU’s history is made of.
Traditions Week 2013 will kick off Monday and feature a variety of activities in which students can participate.
“We just are trying to bring back a bunch of the traditions,” said Sloan Bailey, traditions director. “Every Friday, students used to wear their game day shirts to promote the athletic events for that weekend, so we’re trying to bring that back.”
Sloan said one of the lesser known traditions is the Hello Walk.
“It’s been around since 1961 but hasn’t really happened in a while,” Bailey said. “Utah State University is known for being really friendly, so this is an opportunity for students to say hello to each other as they walk by.”
Bailey said on Monday the sidewalk by the Quad will be lined with volunteers giving out hand warmers and treats to encourage the friendliness on campus.
While some of the traditions are not very well known, one of the university’s most famous events is True Aggie Night.
“Nobody really knows how the event started,” Bailey said.
She said it originally began with the Beno club, a service club around 1917. The group’s monument was the A block.
“The only thing they can find is it was said that no girl could be a true Utah State coed unless she was kissed on top of the A, and so that’s probably the longest running tradition,” Bailey said.
Though True Aggie night will not be included in the week’s activities, it will be held on the night of the next full moon, Jan. 26.
“We are trying to focus really hard on all of the traditions that Utah State has,” Bailey said. “A new one that we kind of started last year was a game show.”
Bailey said they have started to host some kind of game show on campus that students can get involved in.
“Last year we did Deal or No Deal, and that was a huge hit,” Bailey said.
This year it will be a Campus Feud based around the Family Feud game show.
“Kind of a new tradition we’re trying to start,” Bailey said.
Another event will be the sweatshirt swap held Tuesday through Thursday in the TSC Hub. Students can trade in used hoodies for this year’s Traditions Week sweatshirts. All of the donations will be taken to The Road Home in Salt Lake City.
Besides a free hoodie, Scotsman dogs and Aggie Ice Cream on the TSC Patio are also perks to showing up to campus this week.
A concert is on the schedule for Friday. Indie rock band We Shot the Moon will perform at 8 p.m. in the TSC Lounges.
“We noticed that some students were disappointed there wasn’t a concert at the Howl,” Bailey said. “Traditions week has never had a concert before, so this will be fun and something different.”
She said when Student Traditions and Activities Board decided to look into some band options, We Shot the Moon came to mind.
“They love Utah State, so they always like to come up,” Bailey said. “They basically are coming because they like the campus, and so we thought that would be a really good opportunity for students.”
Bailey said she expects it to draw a large crowd since it is the first concert held this school year.
“I think concerts are fun and will attract people,” said sophomore Esmeralda Arreola. She said the week will help students learn more about the University’s traditions.
Traditions week is designed for all students, but mainly new transfers and freshmen, Bailey said.
Anna Christiansen, a transfer graduate student, said she isn’t familiar with any of the traditions at Utah State.
“I know people go make out on the A on Homecoming, but other than that I don’t know anything about traditions,” Christiansen said.
Bailey said she feels like it’s her job as traditions director to make sure students know the history of the university and be aware of what is going on around campus.
“We encourage them all to participate in all the traditions,” Bailey said. “Whether it’s True Aggie night, eating Aggie Ice Cream, going to basketball games or what not, just anything.”
If students are interested in volunteering for future activities with STAB, meetings are held Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on the third floor of the TSC.
“Anybody can come up and get involved,” Bailey sid. “We have lots of volunteer positions.”
– tmera.bradley@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @tmerabradley