The Cult of Bryn Mawr
(alias Bryn Mawr Traditions)
"At Bryn Mawr, if you do anything more than twice, it's a Tradition." ~ Nancy Vickers, College President
Note: Not everything is included in the description of aome Traditions. Some things you just have to find out for yourself, like I did!
Bryn Mawr Time: Bryn Mawr College runs on Bryn Mawr Time-- classes are listed as starting at 10 am, but really start at 10.10 am. Haverford College, unfortunately, runs on RT - Real Time. It makes things complicated. It also means that Mawrtyrs are almost always late.
Hypothetical Pets: Mawrtyrs love hypothetical pets. Those are the pets that are there, but they're not-- at least not that Public Safety knows. Hypothetical pets include: a ball python, 2 hamsters (Hamlet and Omlet), 2 leopard lizard geckos, one fish (Maximilian Tugboat the Second), a cat (Celecita, she's there to catch the mice), and many more.
Mistresses: Because Bryn Mawr is so steeped in Traditions, there are specific elected positions for Songsmistress and Traditionsmistress. There is one songsmistress and one traditionsmistress for each class.
The Moon Bench and Rockefeller Arch: The Moon Bench is a bench inscribed with a quote at the end of Senior Row (see below). The legend is that if you kiss someone on the Moon Bench, it is bad luck for the relationship (so bring guys you don't like down there). Rockefeller Arch is the arch is the arch between Rockefeller and Pem East (? or West, I can't remember). Kiss someone there and it's good luck. Ohhhhh Rooobbbbbbbbbb....
Senior Row: Senior Row is a long row of trees on Merion Green, with the beginning just below Taylor Hall and the end just before the Moon Bench. Only seniors may walk the entire length of Senior Row. If you walk all the way down Senior Row before you are a senior, you won't graduate.
Senior Steps: As you are facing Taylor Hall with your back to Thomas Great Hall, the steps are the set on the right. The tradition is similar to Senior Row-- only seniors may walk up the steps without fear that they won't graduate.
The Fountains: The fountains is the Tradition that all the men like. Think of it, large groups naked women in water! Ok, so, anyway, there are two fountains in Bryn Mawr College-- one within the Cloisters, which is where the Lantern Night ceremony is held, and one in Taft Garden behind Canaday Library. Students are supposed to skinny-dip in one or both fountains before the end of their senior year to ensure their graduation. Rumor has it that Katharine Hepburn started this Tradition by skinny-dipping in the Cloisters the night before her graduation ceremony. It wouldn't surprise me-- after all, this is the woman who almost got kicked out of Bryn Mawr for smoking in her dorm.
Taylor Bells: The Taylor Bells are a simple tradition: Seniors ring them after they have finished their senior theses. Great stress-reliever, that, hitting bells. But only seniors may ring the bells, and only after finishing the thesis. I believe the bells are located at the top of the Senior Steps.
The worship of Athena: Of course, if you forget about any of these traditions and break them - for instance, you walk up the Senior Steps when you're a freshman, you can redeem yourself. There is a statue of Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, in Thomas Great Hall. This statue is a copy of the original, which resides behind Thomas in Carpenter Library. The copy was made because some idiots - probably Haverboys - felt the need to steal the original one evening. Anyway, to redeem yourself to Athena or simply to get good luck, you must sacrifice something blue to her. Not everyone sacrifices something blue, but it's just something else to help. Need assurance for your big paper? Sacrifice a dining hall tray! Want to apologize for something you did to offend Athena? Sacrifice that old blue sweatshirt and make Athena a paper crown! It's really amazing the amount of things collected at Athena's feet around midterms.
Still working on this part! Check back later.
--Supafun
--The Cloisters
Parade Night is held the evening of the first day of classes, which was, this year, August 31st. The freshmen learn their class round, lyric song, and Parade Night song. The Parade Night song is usually a popular tune sung with words dissing the sophomore class. The sophomore class, in return, usually sings the same tune with words dissing the frosh. For the class of 2002 (that's me!!), the round was Dona Nobis Pacem, the lyric song was Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, and the Parade Night song (lyrics) was sung to the tune of We Are the Champions.
Around 8 o'clock pm, the freshman come down from the Pembroke Arch dance studio, which is conveniently over top of the Pem Arch. The sophomores, juniors, and seniors are lined up along the walkway leading into the college from Pem Arch. The sophomores are armed with water since they are mean and cruel, and the sympathetic juniors have candy for the frosh. The seniors are apathetic and just stand there. The freshman, after coming down to the Arch, run the gamut on the walkway. The sophomores throw their water, and the juniors toss candy. Unfortunately, even if you go at the end of the line of freshmen, some sophomore is almost always still armed, and there's no more candy.
After this wild romp, the four classes head over to Denbigh Green, where a Step Sing takes place. Everyone gets a candle and burns themselves. It's fun. And everyone sings many, many songs.
The night before Halloween, this year a Friday, the children of the staff and faculty go trick-or-treating through the dorms. There was also a haunted house set up this year in the Campus Center.
Halloween is the night when the largest party on Bryn Mawr campus takes place. It is customarily in Rhoads Hall, which does not make some Rhoads Hall residents very happy. Most Mawrtyrs dress up for the dance party (and most arrive with some form of beverage in their system). There are truckloads of random, scary men all over the place, often dressed up as well--and a seemingly disproportionate number of them in drag.
Lantern Night is the first Sunday in November--this year, it was November 1st. This is the night where freshmen get their class lanterns. This is also the crowning night for the Bryn Mawr cult.
Frosh line up along the walk in front of Taylor at 7 pm dressed in "bat robes" (essentially black graduation gowns - some date back to the 1920's). Then, at 8 pm (8.10 pm RT - Real Time), the frosh in their two lines file into the Cloisters via the two doors at opposite ends of Thomas Great Hall. The freshmen are then lined up at the end of the Cloisters with their backs to Thomas Great. Above them, on the battlements, and beneath the arches, are parents and other students. In the arches are class lanterns.
Once the songsmistresses are standing around the Cloisters fountain, the seniors step up into the arches and began to sing Pallas Athena in time with the swinging of the Lanterns (an up-middle-down-middle-up beat motion, not side-to-side). The sophomores began to run the Lanterns-- which means that they are running in the pitch black, carrying one lighted Lantern in each hand. They place one Lantern behind the right foot of every freshmen, except the freshman songsmistress.
Once the running is finished, the seniors step down and the juniors step up into the arches. The senior songsmistress walks to the freshman songsmistress and places the frosh's Lantern behind her right foot. She then walks back to her place, and the freshman songsmistress reaches down behind her to pick up her Lantern. At this signal, the rest of the freshmen do likewise. Now, one twist to this simple act of picking something up-- if you look at your Lantern, it's bad luck, and you will not graduate. So you have to reach down behind you blindly to pick up a hot metal Lantern. (TIP: Wear gloves!)
Now, when all the frosh have picked up their Lanterns, the songsmistresses begin the beat for Sophias (singing in ancient Greek! YAY!). The frosh sing through Sophias once, then the junior class joins in, swinging all the while in the arches. After the second run-through, the frosh exit.
The Lanterns are about 6-8 inches high, with the Class of 2002 Lanterns having dark blue glass panes. Across the panes are the metal figures of the owl, technically the Bryn Mawr mascot (also the symbol of Athena-- what a coinkidink!). Attached to the Lanterns when the frosh get them are invitations to Lantern Night teas. Not all the teas have an invitation attached to each Lantern; you only get about half a dozen. Mine had invitations to the Christiani-Tea, MSTea3K, Obsceni-Tea ("Learn all those words you really need to know when you go JYA!"), Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Tea!, and Oscar Tea. Another part of this tradition is that the person whose Lantern is the first to go out will get married first, and the person whose Lantern goes out last will get her Ph.D. first.
After this ceremony, there is another Step Sing...which no one told our songsmistress about, as she was at her mother's wedding the day before. Apparently, there's also usually a keg at the Step Sing, but the beverage is only served to seniors and juniors.
Wanna know why this is the most cult-like event? Here we have people in black robes, in total darkness, with fire, singing in ancient Greek. H m m m m.
Hell Week is a special week for frosh. Hell Week's sometime in February. Freshmen get to pick their "hellers," who are upperclassmen but may not be their customspeople. The hellers decide on a week of torment for the freshman, ranging from singing on a table in the Haverford Dining Center to getting specific Villanova guys' phone numbers.
The customspeople, while not being hellers, also appparently get to "try" their frosh for various "crimes." One crime I heard reported was wearing funky pants. She was found guilty and sentenced to wear the pants with a big sign around her neck saying, "I'm too funky for my pants." Another crime was being too enthusiastic about Girl Scouting. Her sentence was to ride the Blue Bus and give a speech to the riders on the founding of Girl Scouting. She talked for almost the whole ride to Haverford - approximately 10 minutes.
On the Saturday morning of Hell Week, the upperclassmen wake up the frosh at 5.30 am to run over to Haverford's duck pond. The last frosh to reach the duck pond is thrown in (please remember, this is FEBRUARY).
I'm looking forward to Hell Week. But only sort of. I'll let you know the embarrassing things I get to do--since I've finally picked a heller, the sweetheart Meera Ratnesar.
May Day is (obviously) in May. There is the traditional May Pole dance, and also the May Hole dance. Students, standing in a circle, are bound together at the wrists with toilet paper. The bonds are broken while chanting," Hey! Ho! The patriarchy must go!" Then students do something involving a parachute and flower petals. Don't ask me, I haven't seen it yet. There are also Morris Dancers.
There is also the traditional senior hoop race down Senior Row. The first to reach the end...has something good happen to her. Don't ask me what it is, I don't remember.