Davidson College

The Cake Race is a one-mile, cross-campus race run by members of the freshmen class during the first few weeks of school. Those who place in the top 50 receive cakes, all donated by members of the town community.

The Annual Campus Christmas Party is an informal campus-wide gathering to light the two enormous pine trees in front of Chambers. Complete with cider, cookies, carols by candlelight, and Santa Claus on a zip line, this is an event not to be missed. What better way to kick off the holiday season?

Didn’t get enough holiday cheer at the Christmas Party? Christmas in Davidson is a three-night festival sponsored by the town of Davidson. Shops and restaurants are packed with yuletide sundries, and the neighborhood is filled to the brim with carolers, parkas, and one-horse open sleighs.

Court Selection Night is the biggest party of the year. All freshman girls are inducted into eating houses for the first time, usually by way of ceremony involving ketchup, shaving cream, and extremely cheap champagne. To top it off, freshman fraternity pledges run semi-nude through all the girls’ houses (used to be all nude, but the administration has been cracking down). Court Night is basically Davidson’s best stab at emulating an average weekend at a “big party school.”

First Night Down is the second biggest party night on campus. Freshmen are allowed down to Patterson Court for the first time (they are banned for the first few weeks of school), and get to check out the fraternity and eating house scene. Virtually every house on the Court throws a party to try and impress some new recruits.

It’s hard to get through Davidson without playing Flickerball, most basically described as a mix of touch football and ultimate Frisbee. Freshman girls and guys teams compete throughout the year, with the final match played under the big lights. This is a great way to earn your PE 101 team credit.

A staple of orientation each year, the Freshman Olympics consists of freshman halls competing against one another in a ferocious manner. Events include the two-person sprint, scooter challenge, and beach volleyball played with an enormous inflatable balloon.

“The Code” is an unspoken testament among Davidson students agreeing not to lie, cheat, or steal. The Code is the main reason why students choose to leave dorm room doors open and laptops unattended. Also, it affords luxuries such as community bikes and self-scheduled exams. Offenders are tried and judged before the student-composed Honor Council, and the majority of cases heard usually concern plagiarism.

It may not be the most elaborate tradition on campus, but Midnight Scream is certainly one of the most fulfilling. During exam week, hundreds of students drop everything and scream as loud as they possibly can out their windows on the stroke of midnight. This is really amusing when heard from afar.

Reading Day is the Thursday before exams on which there’s no class—it’s really more of a sleeping day.

Recently refitted and re-released, campus Red Bikes are available for use by any student or staff member. Simply pick one up where you find it, ride to your destination, and drop it off for the next user. These are key for that morning rush to class.

If you come to Davidson for only one tradition, this is it. Very much a formal academic procedure, self-scheduled exams take place instead of regular, professor-scheduled exams at the end of each semester. Students can chose the order of their exams and when they want to take them during exam week, and then complete them unproctored in any room in Chambers (you will never be told your bio exam is on Tuesday at 8:30; you can take it when you want). Get them out of the way on Friday and leave for break early, or save them all until Wednesday and Thursday morning. Professors don’t even come to school during exam week, and exams are passed out and collected by a student-composed staff. This takes a big chunk of stress out of exams week—all brought to you by the Honor Code.

Vespers is an enormous service of lessons and carols held before Christmas break each year. Some features are the Concert Choir, Chamber Singers, Symphony Orchestra, Brass Ensemble, and Flute Choir. Over 1,000 students and community members crowd into DCPC for this truly memorable event.