Continuing traditions: Old Blue meets new

At a school that is almost 300 years old, traditions are a significant force in students' lives. But a tradition is just a ritual that has stood the test of time; traditions can be silly or serious, but they're not indelible. Yale's traditions are our foundation, yet they are constantly shifting as old ones die out and new ones are formed.

FABIÁN ROSADO/YH Naples no longer plays its traditional role as Thursday night hangout.

Fresh in the minds of Yale's current undergraduates is the example of Naples Pizzeria. A famed "traditional" eatery on Wall Street, Naples features walls of Yale paraphernalia, cheap beer, greasy pizza, and a dance floor. For years, Yalies flocked there every Thursday night, but in the middle of last year, a new club called Gecko opened on Crown St. Featuring two bars, pool tables, and a bigger, flashier dance floor, the new establishment quickly usurped Naples's place as the premier Thursday night hangout. Now, students head to Gecko, leaving Naples practically deserted on weekends.

A more serious tradition changed dramatically in 1969, when women were first admitted to Yale. Today, the Women's Table fountain, designed by Maya Lin, SY '81, ARCH '86, attests to the speed with which Yale made up for lost time. Inscribed on its black granite surface are the number of women at Yale each year, starting with zero in 1701 and ending when the table was built in 1993. (The class of 1999 is the first undergraduate class with more women than men.)Yale now has a Women's Center, women's singing groups, and even all-female secret societies.

Yale's buildings embody the conflict between New and Old Blue. When Morse and Stiles were erected in the early 1960s, the modern, concrete-molded buildings caused a stir. Certainly, the peanut brittle structures with no right angles broke with Yale's established tradition of Gothic and Georgian architecture. But today, Yale has embraced these colleges, along with the similarly bold Art and Architecture building and Beinecke Plaza, as dimensions of the University's innovative spirit.

Indeed, Eli spirit is what creates traditions and what keeps them alive. Even when the Yale Precision Marching Band stopped playing "The Stripper," Saybrugians refused to give up their time-hallowed tradition of shedding their garments at home football games.

Inter-college rivalries also demonstrate the ever-changing nature of Yale traditions. While the Silliman-Timothy Dwight competition is as fierce and entrenched as that between the Yankees and Mets, other battles erupt yearly. For example, just this year, tension between Davenport and Jonathan Edwards exploded. After a daring squad of DC patriots absconded with JE's engraved library plaque, a black-clad JE SWAT team retaliated by stealing the venerated DC courtyard gnome.

You're never too new to make your mark. It was only September of his freshman year when Armando Valdez, BK '01, ran off with the coveted Doodle record by scarfing down 22 burgers in one sitting. When a high schooler tried to steal Valdez's glory, the freshman responded just weeks later, reclaiming the Doodle throne with 24.

But does every freshman have to eat a sickening amount of beef to be a part of Yale tradition? Of course not. We are all part of Yale tradition, and we all have the power to make new traditions take root. Just as the few brave women who came to Yale in 1969 opened a new chapter in the school's history, minority students today struggle to gain recognition of their heritages. This past year, a petition to offer Hindi and Thai at Yale was evidence of the continuing effort to add an Eastern flavor to the traditionally Western curriculum.

Every time you take off your shirt for Saybrook or choose Gecko over Naples on a Thursday night, Yale traditions, old and new, come to life. And it doesn't end there; every Yalie has the power to start a new undergraduate organization, or, like "Richfest" founder Rich Marshall, SM '96, an annual college carnival. Yalies in every class and every decade make a unique contribution to the traditions amassed by the generations of students that have gone before us.

Ariel Pepple contributed to this article.

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