Bouncing Day started at Carleton around 1877. It is hard to tell when it actually began but this is the first time that we found it referenced within the Carleton College Archives. In this annual event, many of the new freshman male students were thrown in the air by the older students. This tradition was part of the hazing process in which new Carleton students were adopted into the college. It seems like the tradition stopped sometime in the 1960s, but there are many pictures of the tradition before then indicating that it did occur quite often and over many different years.
The Bouncing Day tradition did not occur on a specific date every year or even in a set location. This is likely so that the freshman couldn’t be prepared to avoid it. The location of Bouncing Day appears to be in a grassy area, at a similar location of where Laird Stadium is now, but it is hard to tell as we have limited pictures to go off of. Nonetheless, Bouncing Day is one of the earliest Carleton traditions and certainly a big deal to previous Carls.
Sources:
Image: Haven, Ruth. “Up! Up! Up!” 1899. Carleton College Archives. https://contentdm.carleton.edu/digital/collection/Scrapbooks/id/1450. Accessed March 2nd, 2021.
Information: “Hazing at Carleton College.” Carleton College, Gould Library, 3 Sept. 2010, www.carleton.edu/library/news/hazing-at-carleton-college/.
