Juliet McDermott

Unfortunately, time did not allow us to conduct investigative journalism at a party. However, we had been meaning to write about alternative functions for a while, and the Thorne Thanksgiving Dinner just so happened to be the week that we were writing this. We went to the people to learn a little bit more about how students feel about the role of traditions in campus life. If you were hoping to hear us talk again, sorry. Maybe we’ll be back next semester. Probably not. But maybe once. There are more thoughts after the quotes. So read the whole thing.

MG: What do you make of the role of Bowdoin traditions in the College’s social life?

Liv Deane ’25: I think it’s huge. For example, with Bowdoin Thanksgiving dinner, a lot of people make plans around it. For example, after this me [and] my friends are gonna go see the “Wicked” movie premiere. Some people pregame the dinner together. It really brings us together—and it’s fun.

BA: Are there any traditions you don’t think are productive?

LD: There’s not a tradition that I don’t like. I actually think there should be more traditions.

MG: What do you make of the role of Bowdoin traditions in the College’s social life?

Henry Stack ’27: There’s not that many traditions. Ivies is the only one I can really think of. I don’t think traditions play a huge role, but I wish they played a bigger role. Traditions are fun. I really like the tradition of everyone wearing the club shirts on Quad Day, but [it seems like that’s] dying.

Ben Carroll ’27: There needs to be more traditions. We need to have a bike race. I’ve been saying this—a bike race down Maine Street where all the College Houses have some mini-games and [activities].

BA: What do you make of the role of Bowdoin traditions in the College’s social life?

Felipe Perez ’27: Some of the most fun traditions that I’ve ever known have been student initiated.

BA: Like streaking the quad?

FP: Yeah. It’s fun. It’s not sanctioned. That’s part of what makes it fun.

BA: Do you feel like you could use more traditions at Bowdoin?

Zach Carlson ’26: I don’t know. It’s hard to force tradition so probably not. I feel like we have a lot of traditions. I don’t know if we need any more, but I wish that the energy for the Bowdoin-Colby hockey game and Ivies could just be all the time. So I don’t wish there were more traditions. I just wish every day was more like those.

BA: So you think they bring out the best in Bowdoin?

ZC: Yes.

MG, now in 10 Belmont: We need more words for this article. Do you have any takes, Caleb?

Caleb Friedman-Spring ’25: I think, despite Covid-19, across the generations, there’s a broader vibe that unites Bowdoin students past and present. I think traditions serve as a hereditary link that connects generations of students who may have never crossed paths.

BA: Ideally, Bowdoin traditions bring a cross-section of campus together that might not be at a party on Saturday night, and you get to see a lot of people in the cut that you might not normally see. Bowdoin has a reputation as a community campus, and I think traditions are where that is earned, and everyone gets to see everyone else.

CFS: On the flip side, though, I think a certain school sensibility is passed on, where younger grades are compelled to take on this particular social structure and culture. That could be stagnating social change.

MG and BA: Our goal with this column has not been to dictate, as Caleb wisely pointed out in our plea for more words, our preferred “school sensibility” or social code. Rather, we wanted to point out a huge range of possibilities for student agency in creating the College’s campus culture. Ultimately, student life is just that—a student affair. If there’s one thing to remember from all this: Shut up and dance.

To end with quotes from John Steinbeck and Vladimir Lenin:

“Even now,

I know that I have savored the hot taste of life

Lifting green cups and gold at the great feast.

Just for a small and forgotten time

I have had full in my eyes from off my girl

The whitest pouring of eternal light…”

John Steinbeck in  “Black Marigolds,”  a poem in “Cannery Row”

“On the one hand, excessive caution leads to mistakes. On the other hand, it must not be forgotten that if we give way to mere ‘sentiment’ … instead of soberly weighing up the situation, we may commit irreparable mistakes; we may perish where there is absolutely no need to, although the difficulties are great.”

V.I. Lenin in “Notes of a Publicist: On Ascending A High Mountain; The Harm Of Despondency; The Utility Of Trade; Attitude Towards The Mensheviks, Etc.”

We should have hit our word count now. Peace and Love.