Back to school for college students means back to dorms, dining halls, campus clubs, seminars, and… impromptu parades? Smooching trees and statues? Reprogramming a vending machine? What, exactly, is going on at California’s colleges anyway?
Don’t be alarmed, nothing strange is afoot: it’s just tradition! Colleges across America have their traditions, with some having been going strong for over a century. From good-luck rituals to annual parties and festivals, college traditions are great ways of helping build a sense of community among students, many of whom may be living away from home for the first time. They’re also just plain fun. But California college traditions can get a little weird, in a good way!
So, without further delay, here are some of the wildest, wackiest, and most wonderful traditions California’s colleges keep alive each year:
Caltech’s Legendary Pranks (Caltech)
The California Institute of Technology, more commonly known as Caltech, is one of the most prestigious and competitive STEM-focused colleges in the nation. As such, you might imagine that the students here are too busy studying to have time for wacky traditions—but you’d be wrong. Caltech students love pranks, and when they pull them, they go all out.
The Caltech prank tradition blends together students’ impressive technical knowledge with their sense of fun. Famous pranks of past years have included disassembling a Ford Model T and reassembling it inside a dorm room, tricking the Washington University cheerleaders into cheering for Caltech at the Rose Bowl Parade using swapped-out cue cards, and rewiring a vending machine to play games and applaud those who made purchases from it.
In 2024, Caltech pranksters even went cross-country, delivering prank newspapers to rival MIT in Massachusetts, which included stories about MIT’s mascot, a beaver, being rescued by the Coast Guard.
First Rain and “The Naked Run” (UC Santa Cruz)
Anyone who knows the UC system is probably unsurprised to hear about quirky happenings at UC Santa Cruz. After all, when your school mascot is none other than Sammy the Banana Slug, people learn quickly that this is a college where anything can happen. Including a rain-soaked race of buck-naked college students, every year at the First Rain Naked Run.
Unlike many college traditions, this one can’t be marked in a calendar, as when it occurs is up to the weather. Specifically, this is a tradition that can only happen on the first rainy weeknight of the school year—and there are rules about what counts as “enough” rain. But once it’s been determined that the rainy night has arrived, students strip off their clothes (although many keep on some underwear or a swimsuit), and run through campus, naked in the rain.
Tradition dictates that photos are highly frowned upon, and everyone is encouraged to avoid photos and keep things friendly and safe. Afterward, some students host “First Rain parties,” although presumably only after giving people the chance to dry off and get something to wear!
Full Moon on the Quad (Stanford)
One of the oldest and most prestigious colleges in the Golden State, Stanford University is famous for its top-tier academics. But if you were to visit campus during Full Moon on the Quad, you might think this school is more amorous than academic!
A longstanding and beloved Stanford event, Full Moon on the Quad is a tradition that’s nearly a century old, where Stanford students gather by the light of a full moon to exchange kisses and, more recently, roses and notes as well.
While the event is designed to be highly inclusive, two particular Stanford residents are especially popular to kiss—the Stanford Trees. The school’s two evergreen mascots are longstanding favorites at Full Moon On the Quad each year.
Kissing the Bookhead Egghead (UC Davis)
Pucker up! While many colleges around the country have traditions to help students attract luck on their exams, UC Davis goes the extra mile. Bookhead Egghead is a campus sculpture with its “nose stuck in a book,” which students kiss for luck in their studies. However, the UC Davis website advises that rubbing the statue is also a popular option and is notably “more hygienic” than kissing it.
Pajamarino (UC Davis)
Another UC Davis tradition, this one is hard to miss, even if you’re not actually on campus when it happens! Pajamarino is a UC Davis Homecoming tradition that dates back to at least the 1930s, although there are reports of Pajamarino-type events, including a “pajama rally,” happening as early as 1912.
What began as an impromptu group of excited students sneaking out in their pajamas to welcome visiting alumni as their train arrived for Homecoming Weekend has become a student parade through downtown Davis, with everyone dressed in their pajama-clad best. Then and now, the event is centered around the Davis Amtrak station, where the alumni train would have been pulling in, and where modern Pajamarino also includes a full-on street party with food, games, and live music.
Signing “The Wall” (Scripps College)
You’ve probably heard of college students looking forward to “making their mark” at school before they graduate, but at Scripps College, this takes a rather literal turn. Since 1931, graduating seniors at Scripps have painted the “graffiti wall” with a mural celebrating their class, a tradition that lives on to this day. Now, though, there’s typically one senior chosen to design and paint the mural. A highly structured approach to graffiti from a college that’s also known for its other tradition of weekly outdoor afternoon tea!
Spring Sing (UCLA)
While LA may be the home of Hollywood, that’s not the only place in town to find performing talent—just head to UCLA for Spring Sing! This is one of the most beloved UCLA traditions, an annual music competition that’s been held since the 1940s. What started as a small talent competition has blossomed into the performance of the year for the Bruins, with multiple categories for musicians, including groups and soloists, vocalists and instrumentalists, to compete in, plus comedy sketches and skits between acts. Today, winners include both “Judges’ Choice” and “Bruins’ Choice,” and span everything from boy bands to a capella groups to jazz ensembles.
This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
