goenkam – Carleton’s Traditions over the Decades

Broomball

Intramural broomball is a winter-time tradition at Carleton. It is similar to hockey but brooms are used instead of sticks, balls instead of pucks and it’s played only on shoes. This game is open to people of all skill levels who want to have fun and enjoy some friendly competition. Here’s a fun video introducing…

Senior Day

Senior Day has grown to become Senior Week, a week long celebration for members of the Senior Class. This event usually lasts from the last day of finals to commencement and is filled with events hosted by Carleton for the graduating class. Every year, it coincides with Reunion celebrations which also happens at the end…

Dacie Moses House

Dacie Moses was a former Carleton College librarian, who shared a deep connection with Carleton and many students here. After her death, her house was given to Carleton and now is always open to students who want to bake and experience a feeling of home. The house always has ingredients for Dacie’s favorite cookies, but…

Traying

Traying is a popular and well-loved activity here at Carleton. In this tradition, students steal trays from the two dining halls and sled down the Hill of Three Oaks or Bell Field slope. Although we have photographic evidence that it has existed since the 1970s, not much else is known about the origins of the…

Friday Flowers

Every Friday, local florists come to campus, allowing students to buy flowers for their friends, coworkers, roommates and more! Students can buy each other flowers to express gratitude or just to brighten a friend’s day. During the Spring of 2020, Friday flowers continued on virtually, allowing Carls to feel cared for and connected. Sources Image:…

Silent Dance Party

At 11 PM on one of the two reading days before finals, students meet in on the fourth floor of Gould Library, plug in their headphones, all hit “play” on a specially-curated playlist of dance music at the same time, and have a completely silent dance party. This dance party begins in the library and…

Speak Up

Speak Up is Carleton’s annual event dedicated to centering and empowering the voices of sexual violence survivors on campus. It is a place where survivors can safely share their experiences with sexual violence. In the past, this event has been organized by Carleton’s Gender and Sexuality Center (GSC), but in 2019, the student organizations Campus…

Hazing

Until around 1960, hazing was quite common at Carleton. Upperclassmen would throw freshman into the air (Bouncing Day), put men in dresses and engage in a practice called “paddling.” The picture above shows a hazing event from around 1920, where new Carleton students push peanuts with their noses while older students encouragingly hit them with…

New Student Week

New Student Week in the week before classes where new students move in and are introduced to campus through a variety of activities. One of the most important traditions associated with this week is the frisbee toss, where all students through their frisbees into the center of the bald spot and hopefully make a new…

Primal Scream

At 10:00PM the night before the start of finals, all Carleton students scream at the top of their lungs to let out their stress and anxiety about finals. This usually occurs during midnight breakfast. Right after the scream, students go back to studying as if nothing happened. This is one of the many fun traditions…

Author: goenkam