<p>What are some traditions at Vanderbilt? I've heard of traditions at other schools but haven't heard of many for Vandy.</p>
<p>Move in day is one of the biggest traditions. Upperclassmen swarm your car and move all your stuff into your dorm for you. All the students really rally behind it.</p>
<p>Now that you mention it, we do seem to be lacking in traditions… I mean we have annual events like Rites of Spring and Quake and such but not many weird traditions that I can think of…</p>
<p>Hey Pancaked just curious are you in a fraternity?</p>
<p>How about Founders Walk which was started S’s freshman year (02-03)? His was the first class to walk the other direction for Senior Day, which was on Alumni Lawn then.</p>
<p>Oh yeah the Founders walk. That was a really cool experience.</p>
<p>Oh and the entire freshman class storms the football field into the student section before the first home game. Here’s the only video I can find, you can see Chancellor Zeppos getting ready to run too, he’s a great guy (0:17) . <a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube; Somehow there aren’t any higher quality videos.</p>
<p>Also our pre-football game tailgates are pretty one-of-a-kind.</p>
<p>Yes I am am part of the Greek community.</p>
<p>Does the freshman class group photo count as a tradition? Or is that pretty common at a lot of campuses?
[2016</a> Freshman Class portrait](<a href=“2016 Freshman Class portrait”>2016 Freshman Class portrait)</p>
<p>And the Commons Cup. All the freshman dorms compete against eachother in events all year long to win the Commons Cup (ranges from sports to trivia to most service hours to most electricity savings).</p>
<p>We just got back from a Vanderbilt visit. Some of the “traditions” that were related to us by students (not tour guides) were:</p>
<p>The freshman run… apparently all freshmen are required to attend the first football game of the season and they run across the field before the game.</p>
<p>Formal Weekends… each year, fraternities host a weekend off campus (beach or mountain) that includes lots of partying and a formal dance. Dates are invited and for their part, the girls are expected to provide an elaborately decorated cooler full of alcohol. This apparently is not just a Vanderbilt thing, but something common to many southern schools. I’m trying not to judge, but this was pretty outside my culture comfort zone.</p>
<p>We’ve said “no” to the second “tradition” mentioned in cbrand’s post above. Although lots of the kids go, we told our D that we would not pay for it or allow her to go. But, you’re right, it’s not just a Vanderbilt thing. See this group on Facebook: <a href=“https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=o.5377024169&type=3#!/groups/5377024169/[/url]”>https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=o.5377024169&type=3#!/groups/5377024169/</a> 36,500 members!</p>
<p>I would consider Towers parties a tradition.</p>
<ul>
<li>Honor Code Ceremony</li>
<li>Impact Symposium</li>
<li>Commodore Quake/Rites of Spring</li>
<li>Singing Alma Mater at football and basketball games (Conquer and Prevail!)</li>
</ul>
<p>This is a great thread. As far as the types of “traditions” that fit the typical ideas evoked by that word, most have already been mentioned - Rites, the Founders’ Walk, tailgating, the singing of Alma Mater (my personal favorite - I got to attend the away game at Ole Miss last year and singing the song along with the rest of the tiny Vandy section while the football team celebrated the last minute win in front of us was one of the best experiences I’ve had at Vandy).</p>
<p>In addition to traditions there are lots of common experiences which everyone at Vanderbilt shares. The most obvious of these is Commons (get it?), but there’s also the countless nights spent at Lonnie’s/Demonbreun, the Vandy Vans, waiting for food at Pub, etc. There are also a lot of Greek traditions, some of which have already been mentioned.</p>