Traditions & Events

Source: https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/campus-life/traditions-events/ Parent: https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/apply/application/

Rituals, Routines, and Revelry at UChicago

UChicago has a distinct identity—shaped by the Core Curriculum, the house system, a commitment to open inquiry, and even $1 Milkshake Wednesdays. These traditions and values are part of what set us apart.

Traditions

The phoenix is the official mascot of UChicago's athletic teams and featured on the University seal. Its selection references the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and the subsequent "rebirth" of the city out of the ashes. Today, you can find Phil soaring around campus events, living on our bookstore shelves as plushies, and welcoming visitors to campus as a giant 20-foot inflatable.\ \ While on campus, another name can be heard, "Maroons". Before the University held its first classes in 1892, the Board of Trustees selected yellow as the school color. By 1894, however, Chicago's legendary football coach Amos Alonzo Stagg believed that a change was needed. "The yellow ran, soiled easily, and had a regrettable symbolism which our opponents might not be above commenting upon," Stagg wrote in Touchdown!, his autobiography. Recognizing a change was needed, students and faculty organized that same year and chose maroon to become UChicago's new official color.\ \ Our campus is filled with vibrant art, underground tunnels (for the winter), bubbling fountains and Botany Pond, and gothic architecture covered in ivy. While it can be easy to be swept away by everything our campus offers, especially the one-dollar milkshakes every Wednesday, always watch your feet. Rumor has it that if you step on the gold seal on the floor of the Reynolds Club, you will not graduate in four years. But hey, there's always a chance that means you'll graduate in three.

Found near the entrance of the Reynold Club, the “Seal” should never be stepped on.

Events and Activities

Between Campus, Hyde Park, and Chicago, something is always happening on Campus. In addition to the daily RSO activities, athletic events, and Chicago festivals, UChicago is home to several vibrant annual campus-wide events.

Scav Hunt

UChicago's annual Scavenger Hunt is a tradition so big it can't be confined to campus. After an electrifying midnight list release party, teams have four days to construct, invent, perform, puzzle out, and complete over 300 items on the list. Some of the items may take participants up to a thousand miles from Chicago on a road trip, while others include items like turning a city bus into a bowling alley, building a stationary-bicycle-powered microwave that can fully cook a HotPocket, and constructing a periodic coffee table of elements.

Kuvia

Kuviasungnerk, an Icelandic word that means "happy times," and kangeiko, a Japanese word that means "calisthenics," join together for a week-long festival in January. Hundreds of students wake up at 5 a.m. every day to learn how to row, dance Zumba, and perform sun salutations. On the final day, students walk to Promontory Point for sun salutations as the sun rises over Lake Michigan. Afternoon festivities include ice skating, s'mores, and fireside chats with faculty. The festival ends with the Polar Bear Run, a chilly race across the quads.

Summer Breeze

During the day, the Main Quad becomes a carnival ground with free food, bands, a bouncy castle, and much more, all organized by the student-run Council on University Programming. In the evening, the student-run Major Activities Board brings a lineup of big music acts for an outdoor concert in Hutch Courtyard.

Midnight Breakfast & Primal Scream

On the last night of the reading period, students gather behind the library to release their energy in one, primal scream. Afterwards, student flock for free food through Midnight Breakfast in the McCormick-Tribune Lounge.

Signature Class Events

During their four years, UChicago hosts a variety of class-specific events. For First and Fourth Years, many of these events occur around O-Week or Convocation. For Second and Third Years, these occur through the "Signature Class Events". Whether it is a "Night Under the Stars" at the Adler Planetarium" or "Jazzin' at the Shedd Aquarium," students get to explore new parts of the city alongside their friends and celebrate their accomplishments.

MODA Fashion Show

The MODA Fashion Show is a annual celebration of arts and fashion at UChicago. Over 200 students are involved in this annual production which features designs created and modeled by UChicago students. This show provides a night to remember, while also offering hands on experience to students.

Halloween Concert

Every year as the bone-chilling cold begins to seep into the city, the USO dusts off the spookiest tunes to deliver a spine-tingling, goosebump-inducing performance. The Hyde Park School of Dance joins this family-friendly, costume-encouraged, Halloween Concert.

O-Week

College Orientation Week, or O-Week, began in 1934 as a way to introduce a new class of students to the traditions and community that has made the University of Chicago a unique destination for students from around the world. This multi-day series provides new students with an in-depth overview of how the College works.