It was a brisk, sunny January morning this past Saturday around the Bell Tower. Just before the runners got their start in the third Krispy Kreme Challenge, organizers gave a quick history of the race and described it as, more or less, the next great N.C. State tradition.

Is the Krispy Kreme Challenge a tradition? What makes a tradition and why should another tradition be important to us?

Tradition is a word that’s been thrown around a lot at NCSU during the past several years, certainly since old Ball here was a freshman. In my next few columns, I plan to examine the issue of tradition at our University and hopefully explain to you, as a member of the campus community, why you should be concerned about the state of tradition at our school.

What is a tradition to begin with? I’d say that a student tradition in the terms of our discussion ought to be defined as something done regularly or recognized by a significantly large proportion of students that is extraneous to the basic academic structure of the University. Some excellent examples of traditions include the Hillsborough Hike and lighting the Bell Tower red on specific occasions.

Traditions don’t have to be very big events; little things on a more consistent scale can be equally traditional. Shouting “red” toward the end of the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ or “go to hell Carolina!” during the fight song is almost trivial, but the consistency of these little gags lends itself to a much greater feeling of unity amongst the community.

This is why tradition is such an important aspect of collegiate life. Is it worthwhile to bind together the University community, to build things like school spirit and make members feel like they are involved in and contributing to something vast and important? I’ll answer my own rhetorical question: of course! There is no better sign of a united community than one that has diverse and thriving traditions that most persons in the community care deeply about.

This is why concern is so high about the state of tradition at NCSU. I don’t mean to put words in anyone’s mouth, but I think the vast consensus amongst most concerned members of our community is that traditions at State have been slowly dying over at least the past decade, or at least had been until a more recent surge in interest in the preservation of existing traditions took hold amongst various student groups.

This rising tide of interest in our endangered traditions can largely be attributed to the disappearance of several important traditional parties over the past decade. Administration canceled Campout (which is now precariously back in action thanks to hard work by student leaders) in 2000 after a particularly raucous night leading up to a February home game against UNC.

Following that, Pig Stock and the fabled Brent Road party (both events on Brent Road and the former actually a block party organized for a charitable cause) were eliminated by the city behind the provisions of the Nuisance Party Ordinance.

The University administration also played some role in offing these traditions, even if that role was no more than scaring freshmen’s parents over the risk of their kids being caught on Brent Road at the beginning of the semester and a reprehensible lack of student advocacy against the unjust and arguably illegal enforcement of the NPO by the Raleigh Police Department.

OK, that’s enough of a history lesson for today. The fact is that this trend of disappearing traditions has continued into the more recent domain of the common student memory. While most undergraduates don’t remember parties from the turn of the millennium, many vividly recall the before and after effects of clampdowns on tailgating following the shootings in 2004 or the squashing of the Design School’s Halloween bash.

Granted, most of the traditions that I’ve listed were or are events that involved alcohol consumption, and it could be construed that administrative and city action were merely part of the stereotypical twisted temperance movements students commonly associate with repression of this sort. However, I guarantee that administrators are far from teetotalers, and I’d contend that the disappearance of our traditions extends far beyond the systematic elimination of University-wide drinking events and is symptomatic of wider social change for which we all bear some responsibility.

That being said, next week I will delve more deeply into what I think are the real drivers of social change in our community, and show how policies and attitudes amongst all involved parties in response to this change has eroded the valuable traditions of NCSU.

Let everyone know about your favorite bygone tradition at viewpoint@technicianonline.com. Maybe we can work together to bring it back!