REPORT: Many USU traditions have been forgotten
Many students at USU have traditions, whether it pertains to school or just their personal lives. Like the students, USU has many traditions: some that have been passed down for a long time, some that are new and some that have now been discontinued.
Current traditions include events such as A-Day. Many students know it includes True Aggie Night, Day on the Quad, a 5K race and a senior celebration, but some might not know how it originated. The USU Alumni Association used to set the day aside to give the campus a thorough clean up, and students could participate in activities like projects, free lunch, assemblies, a football game on the Quad and a student body dance.
In order to promote friendship around campus, USU hosts the Hello Walk, an event where students are encouraged to greet each other. There are volunteers who help encourage the interactions.
Holiday Lane is another annual tradition that is coming up soon. Volunteers set up a Christmas tree on the Quad and have it decorated by different organizations. Some of the ornaments have the Christmas wishes of unfortunate children, and students can take one and buy the item for the child.
Homecoming is made up of traditions in which many colleges participate. The completion of Romney Stadium in 1930 helped make Homecoming better-advertised at USU, and to celebrate its first big Homecoming game, the university set aside a day that included pep rallies, patriotic flag ceremonies and a downtown parade where many local merchants participated.
The Robins Awards started out with William E. Robins, a student at USU and a part of the Sigma Nu fraternity nearly 50 years ago. He was the primary visionary of the Taggart Student Center. He and his wife died in a plane crash in 1954 and left a son orphaned. The fraternity set up a fund to help the Robins’ son go to USU when he was old enough, but their son died when he was eight years old from leukemia. Since then, the fund has been used for an award bestowed upon students and faculty members who excel at hard work and fulfilling personal goals.
The Hill tradition surrounds USU’s fraternities. Anyone interested in being part of a fraternity stands at the top of Old Main Hill, and when it’s their chosen fraternity’s turn, the newcomers run down the hill to current fraternity members. Afterward, the participants all go to their respective houses. The sororities do the same thing, but on the stairs from the TSC to the fountain located to the south of the building.
Becoming a True Aggie is something all Aggies are familiar with. The Block A came out to its current spot in 1967. To become a True Aggie, students can kiss a person who is already a True Aggie on a night with a full moon or on Homecoming Night. On A-Day students can kiss anyone and both of the students become a True Aggie.
Some traditions that students may not think of as traditions are Aggie Ice Cream and Big Blue.
Aggie Ice Cream is recognized around the world. It has a 12-percent butterfat content, which means it’s been aged and has less air than commercial brands. It started to become world-famous when a Korean student loved it so much, he wanted to take it back home with him. He found some Korean businessmen, and, in June 2000, the first international Aggie Ice Cream was opened in Seoul, South Korea.
Big Blue wasn’t always just a costume. It was originally a real white bull that was painted blue before each game. When the Spectrum was built, there was concern about having a real bull in the stadium, so they discontinued Big Blue.
He was brought in 1987 back when John Mortensen, then-vice president of student athletics, ordered a Big Blue costume. It was a disappointment to him upon finding out he was royal blue instead of navy and used real animal horns. It also was not easy to move around in. The university didn’t use him for a couple of seas
ons until 1989, a student bugged the cheerleading coach to let him be a mascot. This is where the current Big Blue comes from.
Many students don’t know about the Paul Bunyan mascot statue belonging to the School of Forest, Range and Wildlife’s Forestry Club. Possibly even less known is the feud the university’s engineering students had with them during the early part of the 20th century. The engineers kidnapped the statute and held Bunyan for a ransom of 500 tickets to the Forester’s Ball in the first of many heists. The foresters refused to pay, and so the engineers hung Paul Bunyan from the entrance of the engineering building.
The next year, the foresters attempted pay them back by burning an effigy of an engineer on the front steps of the engineering building. This upset the engineers and they tried to kidnap Paul Bunyan again, but their attempts were thwarted by the foresters.
The feud stopped temporarily but resumed in 1946 during the fall quarter when Paul Bunyan disappeared. On April 1, 1946 he reappeared, hung from the campus flagpole.
During the years, the feud became less friendly. For example, in 1947 the engineers kidnapped the Queen of the Forestry Ball and took her to Pocatello, Idaho and put her in a motel room. When pranks became more rough and dangerous, college administration ended the feud in 1953. The campus is still reminded of Paul Bunyan by the footprints tracked around the campus sidewalks.