Spring College Traditions

Fun Day is just one of the highlights of the Skidmore experience (and arguably wins the campus vote for most favorite tradition), and just like Skidmore, tons of colleges end the year with a big celebration! Check out what these schools do to celebrate spring. Who knows? Maybe you can finally catch up with your high school besties at their school’s epic party weekend!
 
UPenn Spring Fling Weekend
UPenn’s Spring Fling weekend is their biggest festival and has been a tradition for 35 years.  Each April, about 10,000 students gather to have a final celebration before exams begin.  There are food vendors (like Magic Carpet, Chipotle, Capoiro Gelator, and Pat’s Cheesesteaks), inflatables, and live performances by both students and local groups. Sound familiar, Skidmore?
 

Elon U Festivus
Every year, the actual day of Festivus is kept secret, and is only discovered by word of mouth among students. One group of people will volunteer to have their front or back yard turned into a giant mud pit; that’s when the fun begins. Elon decks out in bathing suits and celebrates the day with a keg and a pig roast.  Gabriela ’13 says, “it’s lots of fun and probably my favorite day at Elon.”
 
Cornell Slope Day May 4
To celebrate the year ending, Cornell has a spring gathering called Slope Day. One Cornell sophomore describes it as, “the most exciting day of the year at Cornell.  The parties start so early that nobody ends up making it to class.”This year there will be performances by Taio Cruz and Neon Trees.  Part of Slope Day is SlopeFest, a carnival with tons of giveaways.  In past years, SlopeFest activities included airbrush hats, a photo booth, skee ball, hi-striker, Oasis smoothies, balloon bursts and more.
 
Johns Hopkins Spring Fair April 20-22

Every year JHU has “spring fair,” which starts off on Friday night with the big concert, and continues through the weekend with food, clothing and jewelry vendors. There is even a beer garden for those lucky upperclassmen. This year, Johns Hopkins scored Passion Pitfor the big concert! Alana, a sophomore, says, “it’s definitely one of my favorite weekends of the year.” Anyone else seeing a trend?
 
Brown University Spring Weekend April 19–22
Brown’s Spring Weekend has roots that go back to 1950! This weekend is a mecca for music lovers, since the tradition boasts two giant concerts both Friday and Saturday.  This year Childish Gambino, Cam’ron, and The Glitch Mobwill play, among other bands.  According to Brown sophomore, Sarah*, “it’s essentially a long weekend of partying.”  Every year on Sunday, Dave Binder attends to play a bunch of sing-a-long songs on the green in front of all of the frats.
 
Wesleyan Spring Fling May 24–27
Spring Fling is an annual weekend-long event at Wesleyan that occurs after the end of classes.  It’s celebrated with music, food, beverages, and sunshine, much like our very own Fun Day.
 
While Fun Day is uniquely Skidmore, we’re not the only campus who takes advantage of warming weather and impending finals! If you’re lucky enough to have a friend at one of these others schools, make the trip! Experiencing other college’s traditions is fun and hey, maybe you can convince the school to get a mud pit for our next fun day!
 
 
*Name has been changed