Bates College traditions: Difference between revisions

The traditions of Bates College, a New England liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine, are deeply embedded in the student life of the institution and are well-known on campus and nationally. Many of the traditions presented by the college are paralleled in other members of the Little Ivies, members of the New England Small College Athletic Conference and Ivy League schools. Bates has a long history of tradition with fellow Maine school Bowdoin College; the two colleges often play elaborate pranks on each other and Waterville-based college, Colby College. The college also shares traditions with Dartmouth, Oxford and Princeton.

Nearly a century old, this tradition "celebrates cold and snowy weather, which is a trademark of fierce Maine winters".^[1] The college has held, on odd to even years, a Winter Carnival which comprises a themed four-day event that includes performances, dances, and games. Past Winter Carnivals have included "a Swiss Olympic skier swooshing down Mount David", faculty and student football games, faculty and administration skits, over-sized snow sculptures, "serenading of the dormitories", and an expeditions to Camden. When Edmund Muskie was a student at the college, he participated in a torch relay from Augusta to Lewiston in celebration of the 1960 Winter Olympics.^[2] Robert F. Kennedy, with his naval classmates, built a replica of their boat back in Massachusetts out of snow in front of Smith Hall, during their carnival. This tradition is second only to Dartmouth College as the oldest of its kind in the United States.^[3]

An annual party celebrating beards and mustaches held during winter carivnal. The tradition was profiled by The New York Times in 2010.^[4]

The tradition is named after American actor Paul Newman after he said: "24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not."

Originally started in Bates College in Lewiston, Maine the tradition has spread to his alma mater, and other educational institutions.

Research has shown references made to Newman Day in The Bates Student as early as the late 1970s, including alumni who remember days of cafeteria food fights following each year's celebration. One early Friday morning during Bates College Winter Carnival in January 1976, one of the original participants had read in a magazine article that Paul Newman claimed to drink 24 beers in 24 hours with 10 pushups between each drink. The tradition (originally named "Paul Newman Day") began in Herrick house with 3 Bates students participating.

Newman opposed the tradition,^[5] which received media attention in 2004 after Newman's lawyer sent a letter to Princeton and Bates registering Newman's disapproval,^[6][7] and requesting that the event be disassociated from his name, due to the fact that he did not endorse the behaviors, citing his creation in 1980 of the Scott Newman Centre, "dedicated to the prevention of substance abuse through education". Princeton disavowed any responsibility for the event, responding that Newman Day is not sponsored, endorsed, or encouraged by the university itself and is solely an unofficial event among students.^[7][8]

Celebration of Newman Day has continued, however, and participants indulge during the stipulated 24-hour period, during which participants are forbidden to sleep or vomit; sleeping or vomiting constitutes a "reset" that negates previous consumption, requiring the participant to restart from zero.^[9]

Bates College has long had a nominal connection with Dartmouth College in such that the founder of Bates graduated from Dartmouth and felt a "deep connection with the college, and was reported meditating near the grave of its founder, Eleazar Wheelock."^[10] The connection is reinforced through many parallels including the fact that many buildings were designed after Dartmouth's architectural style and numerous campus distinctions are shared by the two colleges, as both colleges were designed by Gridley J.F. Bryant.^[11] The two colleges also share the distinction of having the smallest endowment and student body of their respective athletic leagues. Students at Bates are also given the opportunity to finish their engineering degrees at Dartmouth culminating in a degree being issued by both of the colleges.^[12][13] Bates students created the Dartmouth Challenge, to make fun of the college's mascot, Keggy the Keg, by spinning Newman Day to new specifications. This includes representatives from each class year consuming one keg as fast as they can.^[14] The winner(s) are crowned King(s) Keg or Queen(s) Keggy, and are awarded the keg the representatives consumed, often dressed up as members of administration or faculty.^[15]

Other inclusions of the Dartmouth Challenge include shotgunning a beer and then promptly "marking" the campus. "Marking" has widely been disputed in specification^[how?] but has included running the grounds of the campus and pressing the emergency buttons on posts, and inside buildings in a predetermined pattern.^[12] The occurrence of this prompts security officers of the college to attend to the area in which the button was pressed. The goal of "marking the campus" is to lead the security on a chase, pressing buttons in a seemingly spastic pattern causing the officers to run around the campus unnecessarily.^[15] Although not specified by tradition students have "marked the college" and added the stipulation that after the marking is done, when the security officer leaves his/her car the student must "lift the car" or steal it, pick up a fellow student and drop them off at their respective dorms.^[13]

On a day near Saint Patrick's Day, March 17, the Bates College Outing Club initiates the annual Puddle Jump. A hole is cut by a chainsaw or by the original axe used in the inaugural Puddle Jump of 1975, in Lake Andrews. Students from all class years jump into the hole, sometimes in costumes, to celebrate, "exuberance at the end of a hard winter." By mid-evening, they celebrate with donuts, cider and a cappella performances.^[16]

From its inception, Bates College served as an alternative to a more traditional and historically conservative Bowdoin College.^[17][18] There is a long tradition of rivalry and competitiveness between the two colleges, revolving around socioeconomic class, academic quality, and collegiate athletics.^[12][19][20] Many alumni of Bowdoin subsequently went on to develop Bates during the 1860s and alumni of Bates lectured at Bowdoin. Bates and Bowdoin have competed against each other athletically since the 1870s, and subsequently share one of the ten oldest NCAA Division III football rivalries, in the United States.^[12][15]

The rivalry between the two colleges has grown out of academics and social standing, moving to athletics. Traditions have grown out this rivalry in their respective athletic programs. Originally started by the debate team of Bates College, the football team has participated in wrapping the college's academic scarf around Bowdoin's polar bear, in "an assertion of who's who."^[12] There have been multiple instances of students soaking the scarf in gasoline and igniting it charring the statues neck after a big football win. Bowdoin responded by wrapping their black and white scarf around Bates' statue of a bobcat.^{[clarification needed][15]}

The taunts between the fan bases have grown and adapted in the modern era of the rivalry. The unison chant of "Blowdoin" is ubiquitous at games between the rivals. Athletic games are commonly accompanied with taunts and chants from both sides of the field. Historically,^[when?] Bowdoin has focused on faulting Bates for accepting women and African Americans to their school chanting remarks revolving around racism and sexism,^[21] where Bates counter-chanted noting Bowdoin's elitism and racism. Both schools' fans are heard often exchanging the taunt of "safety school", and commenting on their respective college's issues regarding white privilege, cost of tuition, sexual assault, and social elitism. Both schools follow a narrative when chanting at football games, Bowdoin focuses on disparaging Bates for perceived lower academic standards and low endowment contrasted with expensive tuition, traditionally chanting "Ivy-rejects", "dirty Lews [in reference to the low economic development of Lewiston]", and "all that money and no [shot, touchdown etc.]."^[15]

Bates follows an anti-Bowdoin narrative that includes a perceived inferiority to Harvard University, historical ties to slavery, sexual assault, and drug use, often chanting, "Blowdoin", "Harvard-reject," "plantation boys", and "bow down Bowdoin [asserting moral superiority]."^[15]

The Bates-Bowdoin Game is the most attended football game every academic year at both colleges. As of 2013, both college's presidents are named Clayton (Spencer and Rose), leading students to include them in chants against each other. Bowdoin developed a "football fight song" entitled, "Forward the White" in 1913.^[22] All football games between the two occurred on Bowdoin's Whittier Field, but with the development of Bates' Garcelon Field, both fields have been used to hold football games.

Bates along with Bowdoin and Colby often play elaborate pranks on each other, that have on occasion been supported by their respective administrations. In 1934, Bowdoin students snuck into Alumni Gymnasium and stole a stuffed bobcat, relocating it and stapling it to Presidents' House, outfitted in Bowdoin regalia. On numerous occasions Bates and Bowdoin student vandalize each other's mascot statues.^[12] In 2001, Bates alumni and students replaced every flag on Bowdoin's campus with a Bates banner, and locked the draw string. One year later, Colby students traveled to Bates and connected a speaker to Hathorn Hall's bell tower and played Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up on a continuous loop, and blockaded the towers entrance. The bell tower amplified the music and played the song continuously from 4AM until the batteries ran out around 2PM.^{[citation needed]} In 2015, undisclosed participants (allegedly Bowdoin), hacked into the wifi servers of Bates and displayed a mock Facebook homepage, making fun of the college. The site was live for ten hours before reverting to the normal homepage.^{[clarification needed]}

According to a 2007 profile by Sports Illustrated a tradition started at the college is named "One Ringing" where students call other students or faculty in moments of "great importance" or during pivotal moments in sports games to distract them and then promptly hang up.^[23]

Although Bates has since conception, rejected fraternities and sororities,^[24] three unsanctioned social clubs and societies exist.^[12] Prior to March 1881, the college had zero social clubs and were determined to establish an atmosphere of egalitarianism and inclusivity. In March 1881 seniors of the class of 1882, began to establish a social club that began strong but soon diminished in membership due to the founders of the club graduating. The Bates Student reported: "What has become of that secret society that the Seniors started so bravely last March? Did the cold March wind blow it away in its infancy, or did the publication of all its officers take away so much of its secrecy that they concluded to give it up?"^[25] The Nova Scotia Club was founded in 1900 as a reestablishment of the first attempt by those seniors and remains operational to this day.^[12]

Nova Scotia Club, sometimes referred to as the Scotia Club, La Scotia Club or simply Scotia is an unsanctioned secret all-male social and dining club at Bates that was founded in 1900 by members of the class of 1902. The members are referred to as the "Old Scotia's". The club is the oldest social club at the college and one of the oldest in the United States. During the Chase Presidency the club was officially barred from affiliating with the college due to its refusal to admit women and minorities.^[12] The club bars participation from underclassman, more specifically first years. After a prospective member is selected, it has been reported that the Old Scotia's storm into the students room and trash it before declaring "Welcome to the Nova Scotia."^[26] All members are sworn to a code of secrecy and are strictly prohibited of disclosing membership, activities and even in some circumstance acknowledging the existence of the club. The club's membership is usually picked from the upperclass of the student body and often charges "bullingdon fees" or "oxford fees", with dues subject to range from a dollar to hundreds of dollars.

The college's administration has disassociated from the club multiple times citing it as "a gross representation of the college and all that it stands for," and "pretension in its most purest form."^[26] The Club, by tradition, formally wears Brooks Brothers to official social gatherings and dinners, and custom academic silk scarves (ascots were used prior to 1910) exclusively from J.Press, or the college itself.^[12]

The Scotia enforces two situational dress codes; a knitted jumper coupled with the club's academic scarf for lax social occasions, and a tailored navy blazer with a white dress shirt, with a faded garnet tie coupled a British khaki trousers and Brown oxfords for formal occasions. A silver pin is given to the members, with an inscribed "Scotia" to be placed on the lapel or tie of the suit.^[26]

The Scotia has a "Clubhouse Rulebook" which outlines the rules and regulations of the members and their activities. A stipulation in the rulebook says that any destruction of property done by the club must be paid in full and out of pocket by the offending parties. Failure to pay, fees sometimes ranging in the thousands of dollars, is met with quick dismissal from the club. There is believed to only be one copy of the rulebook, the original written in 1915, in possession of the president of the club and can only be read or looked at with other members of the club present to ensure its security. The Scotia is the presumptive largest social club with 35 members due to the Saint-Chassee not releasing their member limit. Scouting for the club occurs during the first year and members are inducted second semester of their second year.^[15][26] The Club often draws comparisons to Oxford University's Bullingdom Club, in regard to its exclusivity and tendency to entertain the membership of students who would go on to politics, government, the law or any profession garnering large levels of compensation and maintain a substantial public image. However, many attribute the club to be a runoff of the Brooks Quimby Debate Council as the two institutions have a historical connection due to the fact that the founder of the Scotia was the president of the Debate Council. In the late 19th century the club separated from the debate council and established itself as an independent society, "free from the unique snobbery of the Brooks Quimby boys."^[12][26]

Elizabeth's Club, known informally as Elizabeth's is a secret unsanctioned all-female social club started in 1920 by female members of the college after President Chase stepped down from the presidency. The club is the most selective as only 20 members are allowed to join and members may be kicked out for bad behavior. A senior member of the club is voted the "Mary," presumably named after the first female graduate of the college, Mary Mitchell,^[27] in such that whoever is voted "Mary" leads the club and "need not pay for anything relating to the club's life including alcohol and other entities offered by the club."^[15]

Saint-Chasse Société, (/s[invalid input: 'ah']nʃ[invalid input: 'ah']/ SAHN-shasay-SOSAI-eteh; English: Saint Chase Society) is a secret unsanctioned invite-only coeducational social club founded in 2001 by members of the class of 2003. Membership is by invite-only and invites may be only sent my current or past members of the Saint-Chasse. Membership in the club is for life.^[15] Alike the Scotia members of Saint-Chassee are sworn to a code of secrecy and are strictly prohibited of disclosing membership, activities and even in some circumstance acknowledging the existence of the society. The Saint-Chasse is known for drawing participants among the upper-middle-class to upper-class of the student body and for their lavish parties that feature champagne and prominent alcohol use. In 2014 members of the club participated in a late-night social event where seniors hosted themed parties in their off-campus houses which included underclassman touring the different houses and sampling various drinks.^[28][29] The administration, Lane Hall, banned the tradition in 2014, citing "hundreds of noise complaints", student safety, underage drinking, multiple instances of destruction of property, student arrests, and police violence.^{[30][31][32][33][34][35]}

The class graduates participate in an Ivy Day which installs a granite placard onto one of the academic or residential buildings on campus. They serve as a symbol of the class and their respective history both academically and socially. Some classes donate to the college, in the form gates, facades, and door outlines, by inscribing or creating their own version of symbolic icons of the college's seal or other prominent insignia. This usually occurs on graduation day, but may occur on later dates with alumni returning to the campus. This tradition is shared with the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University. On Ivy Day, members of Phi Beta Kappa are announced.^[36][37]

• 
  Ivy growing on the side of Hathorn Hall, featuring respective classes' Ivy Stones
• 
  Sttudents participating in Ivy Day during commencement
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  Robert F. Kennedy during Winter Carnival

Alike colleges in the United Kingdom, Bates shares the collegiate tradition of academic scarfs with that of the University of Oxford and Dartmouth.^[15] The college's general academic scarf is usually collegiate white striped with garnet^[12] but has many alternatives, mixings, and club scarves.^[19] Some of the scarves are in active use and some are inactive but represent the colors of the institution or historical affiliation.