On Nov. 3, Jeffrey Shoulson, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Affairs, sent out an email to the Brandeis community with the following words: “Consider this your official invitation to propose a new tradition, something we can start this year that will bring people together in a way that’s silly, or, fun, or meaningful, an event that has enough substance to it that students in future years will want to continue doing it.” Included in the email, along with an excess of commas, was a link to a page where Shoulson describes the value of traditions during this “time of reinvention.” He then listed several pre-existing Brandeis traditions such as Light the Night, Liquid Latex and Springfest. He followed up with a call to action, stating, “I think we could use a few more.” At the end of the page was an invitation for students to email the Department of Undergraduate Affairs with ideas for traditions of their own. This raises the very important question—why does Brandeis need to ask its own students to come up with its traditions? What’s the deal with our current traditions?
Brandeis’ idea of tradition usually involves the celebration of its history rather than actual college-life events or experiences. Some historical elements, such as its Jewish heritage, are one of the few consistent inspirations for regular events on campus and are run by organizations such as Brandeis Hillel. However, these events are primarily a space intended to support the practicing Jewish community and are usually necessary for religious observance, rather than a tradition meant to entertain all students. Even our attempts to connect to our namesake, Louis D. Brandeis, are subpar, with his birthday at best being celebrated with some extra cake at the dining hall. Springfest used to be one of the most anticipated events of the school year that is unrelated to our school’s history, known for up-and-coming artists such as Kendrick Lamar and Bob Dylan, and having a large turnout. In recent years, artists have been lackluster, with a potential hit under their belts, but nothing more. Students are instead most excited about going to the unofficial Modsfest and have taken to skipping Springfest altogether in recent years, despite the party typically being shut down by none other than the University itself.
At most colleges across the country, traditions revolve around two things: Greek life and sports, particularly football. It is common to find students tailgating before a big game and storming the field afterward, or pledges simply storming in general, usually half-naked. Brandeis does not have that. The only naked people you will find are at Liquid Latex parties, and that’s consensual and not peer-pressured. Our D3 sports garner no attention, and we don’t have a football team. This leaves us without a common source of traditions from which most schools typically draw their inspiration. Furthermore, if we try to imitate these colleges, these events will likely fail to interest the student body because they will lack foundational reasoning for existing and feel like a distorted reflection of our community.
Our best advice moving forward for this administration is to look at our students’ natural tendency to connect and create events on their own. If Brandeis wants to have more student traditions, it needs to get comfortable with the idea of less-polished events, like Modsfest, that cannot be flaunted on a website or fit neatly into a Campus Groups events form. Putting an idea for a tradition in a form doesn’t make it real, and trying to throw new events at the student body and see if they stick will not lead to progress. Although traditions like Modsfest can be rowdy and underage drinking is a risk, students don’t start traditions with the intention of causing harm; they do it to have fun and bond with their peers. Don’t stop traditions from happening or try to force them; allow them to blossom and evolve on their own. Traditions don’t start as traditions; they become traditions because we choose to make them our own.
