Where’s The Freshmen?
“Where’s your cap freshman?” Many years ago, during the 1900’s big ten universities would take part in a ritual that will forever be remembered. Each university followed their own unique set of rules according to their practice. Here at The University of Illinois the student community assigned a green cap that was only worn by freshmen. It came to be that the ritual then became a custom that many fraternities followed; however, freshmen did not see it in that manner. The freshmen used it in a sense to recognize their freshmen classmates ( Clark, 91). The thesis of this green cap was to identify the male freshmen only. It was easy to identify these freshmen males because the color on their cap was chosen to be easily noticeable from a distance. Here at UIUC they used the color green, which was such a strong color that one could spot a freshmen from across the quad. Traveling from building to building these freshmen were pointed out right on the spot. During the winter months a green knitted toque was worn instead of the green cap. The caps and toques had specific details added to them that gave off what one’s college was. Some students had a white button on top while others had a yellow or red one. The white button on top of the hat indicated the college of Literature and Arts, yellow was for those in the Science of Agriculture college, and red was for the students in the college of Engineering. This thesis provides us with the qualifier that the cap was only used to recognize the male community and that without a male community this custom would not exist. It is unclear whether the women community had something similar going on.
Today, not many customs are put out there for the world to know about. Fraternities are more secretive about their social life because it consists of hazing rituals. As incoming members of the Greek life, the freshmen are expected to not speak about what goes on during their so called hazing. However, we have a unique one that somebody was able to share with the archives center. Rumors informed that when one was caught without their cap that there was punishment that came along. The punishments that came with not wearing the cap were confidential and varied depending on what fraternity one was caught by. This was just one of various other uses that the cap had on the campus of UIUC.
The idea of the freshmen cap was a great one because in a manner it created a networking opportunity. According to Facts for Freshmen Concerning the University of Illinois, a warrant that came with this green cap is idea of helping the freshmen recognize each other. Having the freshmen recognize each other was important for the people who wore the caps because they valued their community and those individuals who were in the same situation of being freshmen and somewhat forced upon to wear the cap. The green cap helped create a social system for the freshman, other than just serving the purpose of identification for the older students. Another warrant that came along with the cap would be the strength of it here on the UIUC campus. The strength of the green cap was one that left behind a legacy for individuals to learn about old customs and culture that existed. It also had the strength of identifying a certain community on campus and creating a social system for individuals to meet.
Often, students see college as nothing more than just an opportunity to receive a higher level of education. Yet, this is a completely wrong mindset to have because it also serves the purpose of meeting new people and opening your network of connections in the job world. The rebuttal made above is there to demonstrate that meeting new people can be beneficial to one since having connections can lead to recommendations, which is a purpose that the cap somewhat served. The cap served this purpose because as mentioned before it created a social system since it gave off the college of one and the recognition of the entire freshmen class when it came to males. The whole recognition purpose brought students together as it was mentioned in Facts for Freshmen Concerning the University of Illinois ( Clark, 91). In reality the cap served many purposes and some of them went unnoticed. For example, creating a community of support and a whole lot of fun. College can be one of the most stressful times of one’s life, but if you have a community to back you up you will be just fine. Always remember that college campus is a home away from home and that everything done here has its purposes although some practices are more unique than others. Luckily we were able to be informed about one of the practices from the past that should have stuck around but is not. This cap on its own has taught me that life is short and that it goes by way too quick for us not to enjoy it and live in the moment. Experiences like these are what helps one live in the moment and enjoy the college experience.
References
Clark & Warnock, Thomas Arkle & Arthur Ray. “The Green Cap.” Facts For Freshmen Concerning The University Of Illinois. 1911ed. The University. 91. Print.
Pineda, Victor. Freshmen Green Cap. 1/26/2016. UIUC, 1900’s.
The format above was created to cite the green cap of my analysis. The reason on why I used that format was because it was an object and I could not really say who wore it or when it was actually created or by who. Therefore, I put myself as the author since I was able to write an analysis on it. The cap itself was my primary source, while the book section was my secondary source. After my name I put the name of the cap followed by the date that I examined the cap at the archives center. Lastly, I put the time period in which the cap was used on the campus of UIUC.