| School Slang | |
- ASAP: Acquaintance Sexual Assault Prevention; the group helps to prevent sexual assault on campus and gives a mandatory workshop to incoming first-years.
- BCC: The Black Cultural Center, a pretty sweet house for students of African ancestry
- Beirut: Otherwise known as beer pong, a favorite drinking game at Swat, especially at the frats
- CA: Campus Advisers; upperclassmen who help first-years adjust and host activities during Orientation Week.
- CJC: The College Judicial Committee
- Crum Regatta: Annual "anything-that-floats" race on Crum Creek; students build the boats out of almost anything to keep them afloat.
- Crumhenge: A circle of small stones in the Crum Woods and the final destination of the trust walk during Orientation Week
- Cygnet Shopping: Searching the online "facebook" for hotties—good luck!
- Daily Gazette: Swarthmore's online daily newspaper
- The Dash: Swarthmore's main website for everything relating to Swat
- Dash for Cash: Annual tradition that originated with the rugby team; runners get naked and run through the halls of Parrish.
- Dip of the Month Club: A group of Swatties that goes skinny dipping in the Crum on the last night of every month, even January!
- Halcyon: Swarthmore's yearbook, which is free to all students
- Hallcest: Hooking up with someone from your hall; hallcest is taboo at Swat.
- IC: The Intercultural Center, home to several campus groups, including SQU, Enlace, and SAO
- ITS: Information Technology Services
- Margaritaville: The biggest frat party of the year during Spring Fling at Delta Upsilon
- McCabe Mile: An intense, 18-lap race to the finish in McCabe Library; the trophy is a new roll of Scott toilet paper.
- ML: Mary Lyon, the sci-fi dorm that might as well be located in a galaxy far, far away from campus
- Paces: A student-run café in Tarble and the site of some of the best campus parties
- Parrish Beach: The lawn in front of Parrish Hall and a favorite hangout for Swatties during the warmer days
- PDC: Primary Distribution Course; the College currently requires students to take a certain number of these courses to graduate.
- The Phoenix: Swarthmore's campus newspaper, released every Thursday
- The Pike: The Baltimore Pike—one of the closest signs of life outside of Swarthmore; it's home to Target, Springfield Mall, several restaurants, and Genaurdi’s supermarket.
- PPR: Palmer, Pittenger, and Roberts, a trio of dorms just off campus
- Primal Scream: A scream from the gut of a Swarthmore at midnight on the night before final exams begin; watch out—it comes out of nowhere.
- Pterodactyl Hunt: SWIL’s biggest campus event; an annual game in which Swatties chase each other around with tin-foil wings and Styrofoam bats and try to capture the Pterodactyl.
- QSA: Queer/Straight Alliance, a group for queer students and queer allies
- Quaker Matchbox: What many people call Swat because of its students’ reputation for marrying one another; rumor has it that 1 in 6 marry another Swattie.
- RA: Residential Assistant; these upperclassman hall advisers are more for student support than discipline at Swat.
- Reading Week: The week, or part of a week, after classes and before finals when students try their best to prepare for finals and write papers like crazy; also a good time to catch up on some sleep
- SAC: Social Activities Committee, a group that reviews and funds all campus parties and is the reason most Swat parties are free
- Sager: An annual symposium on queer issues that culminates into a crazy party; as the saying goes at Sager, "Boys wear a dress and girls wear less," but everyone pretty much just shows up naked—or close to it.
- SAO: Swarthmore Asian Organization, a support group for Asian and Asian American students
- SASA: Swarthmore African Students Association, a support group for African students
- SASS: Swarthmore African-American Student Society, a support group for African American students
- SBC: Student Budget Committee; you go to them when you need money for your group.
- SCCS: Swarthmore College Computer Society, a group that manages college e-mail accounts and Web sites
- Screw Your Roommate: An annual dance where roommates hook each other up with a blind date; the best part is the dinner at Sharples before the dance, where dates meet one another in bizarre, unorthodox ways.
- Sexile: The term for the act of getting your roommate out of the room while you get your groove on
- SHC: Sexual Health Counselors: Got a question concerning what's going on "down there?" They've got answers.
- SOCA: Students of Caribbean Ancestry, a group for Swatties of Caribbean Ancestry
- Sophomore Paper: A required paper due in the spring semester of your sophomore year; in the paper, you declare a major and your plan of study for the next two years.
- Specs: The Swarthmore term for prospective students (meant to be as demeaning as it sounds)
- Spring Fling: Occurs the first weekend after classes are over spring semester; Spring Fling is a collection of parties and fun including Worthstock and Margaritaville.
- SQU: Swarthmore Queer Union, a support group for queer and questioning Swatties
- The Swarthmore Bubble: A term for the phenomenon of forgetting about the world outside of Swarthmore (plan on being totally uninformed about popular culture while you’re here); temporary cures include trips to the Pike or Philly.
- Swat Goggles: What you put on to search for potential partners in a sea of generally odd-looking people; similar to beer goggles, but with Swat Goggles, standards are taken way down and everyone starts to look attractive.
- Swattie: The term for a Swarthmore student; The term usually has a geeky connotation (go figure).
- SWIL: Swarthmore Warders of Imaginative Literature, students who usually reside in Mary Lyon
- Tri-Co: A collective term for Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and Swarthmore colleges
- TRIPOD: A term for the Tri-College library cataloging system
- The Ville: Another term for the business district of Swarthmore borough
- Ville Rats: The obnoxious teens who hang out around campus and like to throw snowballs at passing Swatties; you can also see them skating (mostly falling down) in front of Sharples on a daily basis in warmer months.
- WA: Writing Associates, students trained to help improve your writing
- Walk of Shame: The term for the early-morning walk back from the dorm room of a person with whom you hooked up; at Swat, everyone will know your scandal before they eat their breakfast burritos.
- Worthstock: A day-long festival of live music held during Spring Fling in Worth courtyard
- WSRN: The college campus radio station; its slogan is "WSRN: Fiercely Independent Radio."
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| Things I Wish I Knew Before Coming To School | |
- A little more about time management.
- After sophomore year, you still won’t know what you want to do.
- Bring half of the clothing that you think you need, most notably clothes and shoes. Swarthmore is not, by any means, a fashion show.
- Don’t take the all-you-can-eat policy at Sharples literally. Beware of the Freshman 15.
- Get the smallest meal plan (you’ll save a ton of money).
- Prepare to feel overwhelmed with how smart all of your classmates are.
- There are a lot of opportunities available to all students, and you should do some research into your options.
- You will change your major, and it won’t matter.
- You will change your way of thinking about almost everything, and because of this, coming home will be painful at times.
- You will hang out with kids you never thought you would.
- You will probably be single for the remainder of your time at Swat.
- Your grades will not be as good as they were in high school.
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