| Traditions | |
- Advertising on the Walls: The buildings that line the quarter mile make perfect bulletin boards, and students from many organizations take full advantage of them. The high brick walls that face the quarter mile are usually covered in flyers for different events around campus. Anyone can post anything they want to on these walls, however, every student also has the right to remove any signs that they find offensive. Some of the most comical signs that have been posted were satirizing the vegetarian campaign slogan “did your food have a face”? A jokester took this slogan and used an image of smiling cartoon vegetables, as well as printing various other anti-vegetarian flyers.
- Bagpipes: RIT has a history of busting out the bagpipes at any formal occasion. Many of the faculty members are in fact involved in the group. You will hear bagpipes at any major formal event, most notably, all of the individual college commencement ceremonies as well as academic convocation.
- Calling Reporter Magazine's Rings Number: In each issue of the full color student-run magazine, interesting calls made to the special number are placed into the magazine, no matter how bizarre. Whether it’s a crazy night, you see something crazy, or you just need someone to talk to, Rings is always there to listen (or take your text messages).
- Chalking the Quarter-Mile: Different groups will go out in the middle of the night and write messages in chalk all along the quarter mile. It is usually done right before an open house so that prospective students will see the advertisements for the clubs. The chalk usually lasts for a couple of days, but it will be washed away by the school if it is derogatory or profane.
- Faculty/Student Government Broomball Game: This event allows student government representatives to finally take a swing at the administrators they disagree with all year. Broomball is a game played like hockey. Participants do not wear skates, and rather than using sticks and a puck, they use modified brooms and a round playground ball. The team who scores the most goals during the game wins. The game usually ends in a 0-0 tie.
- Imagine RIT Innovation and Creativity Festival: In its second year, this new tradition brought over 25,000 visitors to the RIT campus to check out students and faculty showing off their work in their respective fields. The family-oriented event is full of exhibits, live music, and almost anything that could catch your fancy. Next year is supposed to be better than the last.
- Midnight Breakfast: In an effort to give something back to the students, the administration and professors at RIT arrange a midnight breakfast once a year. Students can go to Gracie’s and be served by various University employees, including the President himself. This is all done in an effort to show students that the administration and professors are fun loving and can laugh at themselves. Students really enjoy this event, and it usually draws quite a crowd.
- Painting the Rock: One of the most interesting parts of the RIT landscape is the enormous rock on the side of the quarter mile just before the academic side starts. During pledge week, this rock may very well be a different color each time you walk by. Groups traditionally paint the rock in the middle of the night with their name or message. It is usually done with different colors of spray paint, but some of the more inventive groups have covered the rock in duct tape and even rhinestones. There is a theory that the rock isn’t a rock at all, but that it started as a little ball of duct tape and has grown to its current size from all the layers of paint over the years.
- Senior Night: Seniors are rewarded for all their hard work on the last Friday of classes spring quarter. Seniors are invited to come with a guest to multiple events over the course of two days. There are psychic readings, wax hands, sumo wrestling, and other fun events held all throughout campus. Alcohol is served (cash bar) by the school, and the event culminates with an early morning breakfast for the soon-to-be-graduates.
- Snow Ball: This semi-formal dance is held annually on campus for all students. It is the only dance on campus that is open to all students. Many individual colleges will hold formals for their students, and many clubs and Greek organizations will hold their own formals as well. The dance is normally held in mid-January (freezing!) in the SAU Cafeteria. Though the Community Service Club House originally started the event, it has since been handed on to Habitat for Humanity.
- Spring Fest: Every year in early May, the school sponsors an event called Spring Fest. The weekend is filled with free outdoor movies, free concerts, and a carnival that goes on until midnight. The CAB concert is usually held during this weekend as well. Students receive free T-shirts, glow sticks, key chains, and other assorted gadgets throughout the weekend.
- Stick Salute: Hockey games at RIT are an institution in themselves. At the end of every game, the team goes to the Corner Crew, their most devoted fans, and salutes them. The team appreciates the fan base that they have at the school, and they show their appreciation by gestures like Salute and the annual autograph night.
- Tahou’s Run: At nearly every RIT party, someone (usually wasted) will suggest a garbage-plate run. One unlucky sober person in the crowd will take orders and head down to Tahou’s. Ordering at the counter can take a long time on a crowded night; there are no lines, and if you don’t look like you know what you’re doing, you won’t get waited on. The order usually ends up being anywhere from five to ten cheeseburger plates with everything on them, simply because that is the easiest way to order.
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