Does Butler have any fun annual traditions/events?
The first thing that came to mind when I read this was "Dominik the Donkey!" One of the fraternity houses on campus plays a song called Dominik the Donkey over speakers for everyone to hear. The song is commonly put on repeat, and is only occasionally interrupted by "All I Want for Christmas" by Mariah Carey. They start playing the song the day after Thanksgiving break and don't stop until right before finals. The song will stop at night, but otherwise, it plays all day. Students either love or hate this tradition. I think it's pretty fun, but then I don't live right beside their house! I did hear it a lot freshman year, and I basically have the words memorized now :)
There are a lot of annual events at Butler, but a lot of what you will participate in every year depends on what you get involved with at Butler. A lot of the events are philanthropy events...there's Relay for Life and Spring Sports Spectacular (Greek houses and residence halls compete against each other in fun "Olympic-like" events to raise money for Special Olympics). I know that some of the annual events that I look forward to are the ones I that I do with my pharmacy fraternity - there's a trick-or-treating for canned goods, Polar Bear Plunge, and a Halloween Party for Big Brother / Big Sisters of Indiana. As I said, it's all about how you get involved!
Funny you should ask! This is a question I asked pretty much everyone I know at Butler last year when I was editor of the yearbook and we did a "Butler Traditions" page. Here's what we came up with:
Fountain jumping - This is the number one Butler tradition, in my opinion! Groups of friends run around Butler's campus and jump into every fountain (and of course, photo document it!). The ultimate fountain jumpers make it in every single fountain... even the one in the library : )
Campus golf - Bring your golf clubs to school, because Butler students love to "golf" around campus with tennis balls. "Holes" are popular spots on campus such a star fountain, the observatory, etc.
Soapy Star Fountain - Star Fountain is in the center of campus on the mall... not only is it part of the epic fountain jumping experience, but it tends to be the site for practical jokes. During finals week in the spring someone always pours soap in it so it bubbles over with suds. Always good for a laugh… or even a bath. I jumped in last year on a whim with some friends – the walk home was a bit sticky! haha.
Lawn decorations for Homecoming – I don’t know if other campuses do this, but I had never heard of it before I came to college… for Homecoming Week, we have a lawn decorating contest to go with the Homecoming theme. All the Greek houses and residence halls participate and decorate the sorority houses – but you would not believe how intense these lawn decs are! My freshman year, Delta Gamma covered the entire front side of their house with a tarp. Last year Theta had a school bus parked in their driveway… it gets serious! Anyway, I think it’s a really fun tradition because the night before the competition, everyone is out on the lawns decorating until like 3 or 4 am, kind of like a massive decorating party… even if you’re not helping, it’s a great time to walk down Hampton Drive and check out all the action.
Midnight Snack – probably my favorite Butler tradition, and it happens twice a year! During Homecoming and Snowcoming Week, SGA brings in tons and tons of fast food – Qdoba, McDonalds, Taco Bell, Duncan Donuts, pizza, etc. and at midnight everyone RUNS into the Reilly Room and grabs as much food as possible.
Geneva Stunts & Spring Sing – These are two musical extravaganzas/competitions where Greek houses and residence halls pair together to put on musical skits. There is always a theme – for example, I think last year’s was Back to the Future. Anyway, the participants sing and dance, but all the lyrics are rewritten to be about Butler… so it’s basically all about making fun of ourselves. Bring on the campus inside jokes : )
Sledding on C Club trays in the Butler Bowl - Snow days are one of the greatest things to ever happen at college, because even if you’re snowed in, all your friends are right there. Our football stadium is bowl-shaped, so one of the wintertime traditions is to go sledding down the hill. However, being college students, we don’t really have sleds sitting around our dorm rooms… so we have to get creative. Not that I’m advocating this, but a popular sled choice appears to be borrowed trays from the cafeteria ; )
Drive-In movie – During Welcome Week, SGA shows a popular movie out on the Mall (our big grassy area in the center of campus) and everyone brings their blankets and snacks and enjoys movie night.
Playfair – This is only for freshman, but one of my favorites. Playfair is an activity that travels around to different college campuses, and it always comes to Butler during Welcome Week right before the start of classes. It’s hard to explain but it’s basically all these crazy group games that the whole freshman class plays together. It involves running around and yelling and holding hands and all this chaos. It is impossible to go to Playfair and not meet new people! The joke is always that you will meet your future husband or wife there.
VooDoo – Annual Halloween party sponsored by Sigma Nu, one of the fraternities. The guys go all out decorating their house and people sometimes wait in line for over an hour to get in!
Greek philanthropy events – Greeks sponsor lots of fun annual philanthropy events that we look forward to every year. They almost always involve a cookout to raise money, and then free entertainment like sports tournaments, women’s lipsyncs or men doing cheerleading or synchronized swimming haha (blogger JoeW LOVES to do this… check out his videos.)
Humans vs. Zombies – I think Liz wrote about this in her blog already, but I’ll mention it here too. This tradition was around my freshman year, banned last year and appears to have made its resurgence. It is a campus-wide game that anyone can join. If you’ve ever played Assassins, it’s kind of like that. I don’t remember all the rules, but the basic idea is that there are humans and zombies roaming campus (marked by bandanas) and they are both trying to defeat the other side…. you attack by hitting someone with a nerf dart, rolled up sock or a marshmallow (not kidding). It’s not dangerous by nature, but it was banned last year because the administration didn’t think it was safe. I guess this year the restrictions are that you can’t play in the dorms or academic buildings. I have never played but it’s always fun to see people creeping around corners talking about zombies.
Rowdy Row – This is only a Greek tradition, but a memorable sight on campus even if you’re not participating. Our Greek formal recruitment takes place at the end of Winter Break, right before classes start up. On the last Sunday of break, all the new members get their bid cards and find out what house they are in. They run out onto Hampton Drive (usually screaming) where their new Greek families are cheering and waiting to greet them. The street is closed off for the afternoon, and it’s basically a big Greek party in the streets with everyone hugging and taking photos and catching up with all their friends from other houses.
Camping out for skydiving – Every year, SGA’s Out & About in Indy committee sponsors a very cheap skydiving trip. It is very popular, but there are limited spots that are given away on a first-come, first-serve basis. So, the night before the sign-ups, people always camp out in the student union in front of the activities office.
Basketball – Loving basketball is probably the oldest Butler tradition and one that is still strong today. This IS Indiana, after all.
Also, they’ve already been mentioned, but Relay for Life and Spring Sports Spectacular are both fantastic. And Dominick the Donkey is just hilarious… there’s nothing like Christmas-time at Butler to make you smile.
--- Christina '10 http://go.butler.edu/cs/blogs/christinaL
What is SGA?
SGA is our student goverment association. They plan a lot of great events and do a lot for campus. it's a pretty large group of students that get involved!
hope this helps!
www.butler.edu/sga