Clemson’s History leading to Traditions

Clemson University is a campus full of history and rich with traditions. Many football related traditions are well known such as “the most exciting 25 seconds in college football”, rubbing Howard’s rock, and the First Friday Parade. However, some obscure traditions have come about due to the history of the school. Clemson University started out as a military college which formed the basis for several traditions such as the Alma Mater Salute and the Banging on the Drum. The history of the University and the football team also led the way to our school colors and even our beloved mascot.

The Alma Mater Salute is when the fans wave their hand in the air, with the thumb under the other fingers, at the end of the Alma Mater. When Clemson was a military college and for a short time afterwards, freshmen had to wear rat caps. They waved their hats in the air during every football game until the end of the Homecoming game. If Clemson lost that game, the rat caps had to be worn until the next time Clemson won a football game.

The Banging on the Drum also deals with Clemson’s military heritage. This tradition deals with the Clemson rivalry with South Carolina. Starting on the Thursday before the football game, Army ROTC students bang a drum in Death Valley for 24 hours a day until the football game on Saturday.

It may surprise many of you to find out that Clemson’s original school colors were red and blue. When Walter Riggs formed Clemson’s football team in 1896, he came over from Auburn, at the time called the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama, and borrowed the idea of their school colors, orange and purple, and their mascot, the tiger.

To find out more information about Clemson University Traditions visit http://www.clemson.edu/about/traditions.html (used as a source of information for this post). 

Auburn University: War Eagle, Toomer’s Corner, and Hey Day

Auburn University is known for two of their popular football traditions, rolling Toomer’s Corner and the War Eagle chant. Many people are curious about the story behind the war eagle chant, especially since Auburn’s mascot is a tiger. This tradition dates back to1892 when Auburn and Georgia first met on the football field. A civil war veteran was a spectator at the game, and brought his pet eagle with him. He found the eagle on a battlefield during the civil war. During the game, the eagle started flying around the stadium and football field. As the eagle flew around the field, Auburn began playing better and eventually beat Georgia in a thrilling game. At this point in the game, Auburn students started yelling “War Eagle”. At the end of the game, the eagle took a dive and fell to the ground, causing him to die. Since then, War Eagle has become a well known tradition of Auburn football.

            Auburn students and fans will celebrate their football wins by rolling Toomer’s Corner with toilet paper after the game. This tradition dates back to the 1960’s, but back then it only happened for away game wins. Since the 1990’s, it has become a tradition to roll Toomer’s Corner after every Auburn victory.

            The previous two traditions deal with football and are commonly known. Auburn University’s Hey Day is a lesser known tradition that takes place on Auburn’s campus annually. This tradition was very popular in the 1950’s and 1960’s but faded away with time. However, it was reinstated in 1989 and has been going strong ever since. During Hey Day, Auburn students wear name tags, preferably with their name on it, and say “Hey!” to everybody they pass that day. This is a great way for students to meet new people around campus. 

Overview

            A lot of people attend college football games and cheer on their favorite team, but do not always understand that the traditions of the college go beyond football and other sporting events. Some people may be aware of traditions of their own school, and may be curious about traditions at other schools around the U.S. I, myself, am a student at Clemson University and have been curious of traditions at other schools. I have done research of traditions at other schools by visiting some of these schools and asking other students.

            Some college traditions are football based, while others deal with the campus and are not based on sports. There are also some good and bad superstitions that exist on many campuses, which are hard to hear about if you were not a student at the college. Traditions and superstitions of a university could arise due to the history of the university or possibly the history of sporting events.  I believe traditions and superstitions of a college set the colleges apart from each other by giving the campuses a sense of personality. The purpose of this blog is to explore different college traditions and superstitions and how they define their universities.