I liked hearing about different traditions at different schools on his list. I was the sort of 17 year old who would have probably felt obligated to participate in every ritual mentioned to me as a college freshman. Secret rituals and secret meetings and special obligations would have sucked me right in.
My S20 didn’t find any of the traditions cool or enticing. He didn’t hate them. He simply didn’t care about any of it. If a student mentioned the food situation on campus, he paid attention. When the talk turned to dorms or his intended majors/minors, he paid attention. If a student mentioned a ritual where all the freshmen run up a hill to touch a rock and race back downhill to step in a creek, S20 scoffed and said to me that he’d never do that.