Freshman Traditions
“The Wildcat”

Brooks Riley Davidson, NC Fall 2018

Informant Data:

Brooks Riley was born in New York City on May 11, 2000. After she moved to Greenwich, Connecticut and then Charlotte, North Carolina where she lives now.  She attended Charlotte Country Day School for elementary, middle and high school. Brooks is the second oldest of four siblings. Her intended major is psychology at Davidson College. She is a member of the class of 2022. Outside of her studies, Brooks enjoys going out to eat or going on walks with her friends. She is a stellar French speaker and a considerate and kind friend to those around her.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context:

Davidson College was founded in 1837. Davidson is a small private liberal arts college located in Davidson, North Carolina. There are currently 1,950 students enrolled on campus.

Social Context:

There are certain criteria that the freshman experience entire year. Freshman usually undergo typical traditions like freshman orientation. Davidson College has special traditions and rites of passages to welcome the freshman into the community.

Item:

College in can be a difficult transition because everyone is forced to go outside of their comfort zone. The college attempts to make the students feel incorporated at the beginning of the year by creating social events. In the fall, there was an “ice cream social,” but these events were awkward and did not help all the students feel incorporated to their school. Brooks did not feel totally incorporated into her school until her second semester. One freshmen rite of passage is known as the “Cake Race”. During the cake race, all the freshmen run a 2-mile race and the first 50 people who finish win a cake. People and restaurants in the town of Davidson donate the cakes for the race. These unique traditions help bring together the community in the school and make it a special environment. Another tradition is the midnight scream. This takes place the night of reading day, which is the day before exam period starts. At midnight everyone will go out and scream. After this people are quiet and respect the students who are studying for exams.

Transcript:

“They create uniqueness in your community and make your school standout to you.”

Collector’s Comments:

Davidson is similar to Dartmouth that is a much smaller community. The events at the beginning of freshmen year did not seem to help Brooks feel incorporated. They were more overwhelming. I think these events are fun and give the students a common topic of conversation, but they do not seem like the best way to make friends. It does not seem like there was a specific moment that Brooks felt like she was incorporated into the school. Her transition seemed more gradual. A lot of the Davidson planned events sound like something that would happen in “Collis After Dark.”

Caroline K. Jones 19 Dartmouth College Russian 13 Spring 2019