Freshman Traditions
“New Start in Indiana”
| Jack Gorelick Bloomington, IN Fall 2018 |
Informant Data:
Jack Gorelick was born in Charlotte, North Carolina on September 27, 1999. He has lived in Charlotte for all of his life with his family. He attended Charlotte Country Day School for middle and high school. Now, Jack is a student at Indiana University where he studies finance at Kelly School of Business. Outside of his studies, Jack enjoys playing basketball or hanging with his friends.
Contextual Data:
Cultural Context:
Indiana University, IU, is a multi-campus public university in the state of Indiana. Their main campus is located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU is the flagship school for the state of Indiana. IU was established in 1820. There are currently has 89,176 undergraduates enrolled university-wide and 46,000 of those students are at IU in Bloomington.
Social Context:
As a much larger school, IU cannot have as many smaller traditions like small colleges. Still, there are events at IU that all freshmen experience. These traditions make the student body bond and give everyone at the school common experiences.
Item:
Going to Indiana, Jack only knew one person making it a little difficult to immediately make lots of new friends. Another difficult task was learning how to manage his time and work upon arrival. After about two weeks, Jack was incredibly happy at IU. He met lots of new people and rushed a fraternity. He finally felt stable at school once he started pledging for his fraternity about 5 weeks in the semester. Pledging for a fraternity gave Jack a daily schedule and a close group of friends. This process forced him to stay on top of his work and made him feel like he had a part in student life on campus. In addition to pledging and initiation into the frat, attending football and basketball games helped him feel incorporated into the community. At IU, there are no established traditions for freshmen, but there are certain spots where freshmen study and eat. Freshmen are encouraged to eat at the IU staple restaurant, Buffalouie’s, before leaving for the summer. Many freshmen choose to study 9thfloor of the Herman B. Wells Library’s east tower (known as the “Stacks 9). Traditions at IU to help the students feel like a part of the community and help them remember the past. Another tradition for students is the shake Herman B. Wells’ statue hand in the middle of campus before finals or graduation for good luck.
Transcript:
“Traditions provide a unique way for any student to interact with the school and feel a part of the community. I think their purpose is to remember the basis of the tradition. Each tradition started for some reason and remembering that reason when being a part of the tradition is important.”
“I felt incorporated at this time because pledging helped me create a daily schedule that I could consistently follow. I knew the campus, had a close group of friends, and was on top of my work by this time, so I felt a part of the campus and student life at that point.”
Collector’s Comments:
As a bigger school it is harder for Indiana to have a lot of all freshmen events. Greek life is a way for freshmen to get to know each other in a smaller setting. There are not too many similarities with freshmen year at Dartmouth. At Dartmouth many freshmen are encouraged to eat at our staple restaurant, Lou’s, like Buffalouie’s at Indiana.
| Caroline K. Jones 19
Dartmouth College |