Freshman Traditions
“A Little Bit of Havoc”

Crawford Orr Greenville, SC Fall 2018

Informant Data:

Crawford Orr was born in Charlotte, North Carolina on June 8, 2000. She has lived in Charlotte for her whole life. She attended Charlotte Country Day School for elementary, middle and high school. She is a member of the class of 2022 at Furman University and  is currently studying biology. Outside of her studies Crawford enjoys spending time with her friends and is an expert on all Netflix TV shows. She also spent a year of high school in Itlay taking classes and embracing the Italian culture and language.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context:

Furman is a private liberal arts university in Greenville, South Carolina. Furman was founded in 1826 and is the oldest private university in South Carolina. There are currently 2,662 undergraduates enrolled.

Social Context:

There are certain elements throughout the freshman year to create warm and welcoming experience. Freshman usually undergo typical traditions like freshman orientation, but Furman has its own events to incorporate their new students. Furman has unique traditions and rites of passages to welcome the freshman into the community.

Item:

The introduction to college as a whole is overwhelming. Furman has a lot of actives at the beginning to freshmen year that keep the freshmen so busy they do not have time to think about all the change happening. One event in particular that especially helped Crawford feel incorporated into Furman’s community was a fund-raiser called “Havoc”. Havoc is a competition that takes place in the middle of October where the competitors sleep outside in tents for one week. If they do not make enough money, then they are kicked out of the competition. This gives event gives the freshmen an opportunity to get out of their dorms and be more social and get to know upperclassmen. Another tradition that helps the students feel incorporated is the carnival at the end of freshmen orientation. This event ends with a blackout dance party. The dance party is special because it is the first time the entire freshmen class is together. Everyone has a lot of energy and is excited to start their freshmen year. A big rite of passage for the freshmen class is their walk down the mall from the football stadium to the theatre. This is the same walk their class will do together when it is their time to graduate four years later. These traditions help connect each class and bring together the school as a whole. They are something to bond current students and alumni. Some other fun traditions at Furman include throwing someone in the lake on their birthday and on the last day of classes the senior will swim in the fountains on campus.

Transcript:

“I raised about 1,200 dollars. Here I got to know upper classman and I had to put myself out there where as before I would just hang out in my dorm.”

“Traditions bring the school community closer together and reconfirm why people chose Furman or why they choose to stay. They are just fun and give every class in Furman something in common. They help you create memories and you can relate with people like alumni and upperclassmen.”

Collector’s Comments: 

The orientation activities that are meant to help are overwhelming, but they do help bond the class. The Havoc fundraiser reminds me of Dartmouth’s freshmen trips. By living with people outside for a few days, they can see their classmates at their worst. In addition, trips at Dartmouth is a good way to meet some upperclassmen (the trip leaders), just like Havoc. Furman’s walk from the  football stadium to the theatre reminds me a lot of the long lap freshmen at Dartmouth walk before doing their lap(s) around the bonfire during homecoming.  

Caroline K. Jones 19 Dartmouth College Russian 13 Spring 2019