Traditions Week 2016: ’90s style

From Jan. 25 through Jan. 29 Utah State University celebrated its annual Traditions Week, with several new traditions added to the mix.

The events during the week were all based around a ’90s theme, the decade that many of the current USU students were born in.

“We really wanted to bring in more students so we came up with a theme that a lot of them could relate to,” said Alex Abutro, Traditions Chair for Utah State University Student Association Programming.

Several traditional events were put on centering around the theme, including high stakes bingo night with ’90s themed prizes such as magic eight balls and pogo sticks on Wednesday. There was also a ’90s-themed dance on Friday where students were encouraged to dress up in ’90s style clothing and dance to music by popular ’90s artists before True Aggie Night.

But not all events were centered around the ’90s theme. In addition to bingo and a dance, Traditions Week included Dancing with the Aggie Stars on Monday, a snowman gallery on Tuesday and the Hello Walk on Wednesday, which are both longstanding USU traditions, though the gallery hasn’t been put on for several years due to a lack of snow. There was also performance from the a cappella group Filharmonic on Thursday.

Traditions week also brought back another tradition that had been looked over in past years: the Sweater Swap, which gave students an opportunity to switch out their old school sweaters for a new USU one as a representation of truly joining the Aggies.

Several students, however, consider traditions to be more than just a chance to get new clothes or dance the night away at USU.

“I love the traditions here at USU because they connect us as students and give us a chance to express ourselves,” said Jenifer Durfey, an interdisciplinary major.

For some, however, traditions such as True Aggie Night do more than just connect USU students.

“Traditions give a school their own unique culture,” said Brandon Johnson, an English major.

For Aburto the goal of Traditions Week was a bit simpler than enhancing the culture of USU.

“Plenty of planning went into the events… We wanted to start off the semester with a bang and I definitely think we did that and hopefully we will be able to get a lot more students at future events,” Aburto said.

— shaniehoward214@gmail.com