Duke has its Carolina, Yale has its Harvard; and although Yale may not have its own Krzyzewskiville, it does share with Duke an intense athletic rivalry.
"The Game," the traditional pre-Thanksgiving break football contest between Harvard and Yale, is the highlight of the year for many Yalies and a tradition that dates back to 1875. Held alternately each year in New Haven and Cambridge, the annual event lures back thousands of alumni and practically the entire student bodies of both schools. Much like the fanfare of the Duke-Carolina game, students wear T-shirts, shout slogans and drink.
"The Game tailgating is the most fun tradition we have here at Yale," said sophomore Galen Main, sharing a comment sentiment. Other students, however, find The Game a popular example of Yale's 303-year-old history weighing down on the school's shoulders.
"My least favorite Yale tradition is the Harvard-Yale game," said sophomore Ishaan Tharoor. "They are two really bad football teams, armies of alumni, men in jackets--it is a big elitist joke."
At Duke, the Blue Devil-Tar Heel rivalry is the largest and most well-known of the school's limited number of traditions; Yale, however, has a slew of its own traditions, many of which date back over a century. While many enjoy these legacies, some say the school's hallowed halls of tradition leave little room for change.
Most historic student organizations--including a capella groups and secret societies--select new members through a process called "tapping." Groups run from college to college and give selected new members a drink from a giant, silver-plated, double-handled cup.
Many Yalies liken a capella to greek life at Duke--the fourteen groups are very active socially and politically involved in the life of the campus. Beyond rehearsing, they take tours of the U.S. and abroad during school breaks, performing for presidents and worldwide audiences.
They each have their own set of elaborate traditions, too.
There are two senior-only singing groups, the Whiffenpoofs for men and the Whim 'n' Rhythm for women. The "Whiffs" are the oldest singing group at Yale, founded in 1909, and President George W. Bush's grandfather and uncle were members. The group sings every Monday night at a local Yale restaurant, Mory's, where it was founded.
Mory's is an upscale, members-only club located a few blocks from campus that features large "cups," colorful champagne-based drinks in large silver goblets, that are "toasted" by a group. Tradition dictates that as the goblet is passed around the table, which it can never touch, each person gives it a half-turn before drinking. Tradition even governs toasting regulations--how long each person drinks and the cup's final sips.
Senior Kelly Heinz likened these elaborate rules to "voodoo rituals."
"I'm just very grateful that I got to be here and be a part of that tradition," Heinz said.
Many students are awed by the rich history of their school, which recently celebrated its tricentennial. "I find myself sitting in my room, thinking about maybe the people who have sat here before," said freshman Melissa Muniz.
But for others, these intense rituals are just an example of Yale's reluctance to change.
"Tradition is what really gets me at Yale," Tharoor said. "A capella is terrifying here, all the traditional toasting and the political unions are ultra-conservative."
A hallmark of Duke is its youth--the University was not founded until 1924--and incoming president Richard Brodhead sees this as an exciting opportunity to shape the still-malleable school.
"Duke is free to strategize to an extent that is very amazing in the world of universities," said Brodhead, dean of Yale College, who pointed out that his mother was already born when the University was founded.
"Duke's not that young though," he added with a laugh, drawing a parallel with the University of Chicago, which was founded around the same time but is rarely referenced as a particularly young school.
Although Duke is traditionally considered an athletic powerhouse, many athletic traditions also abound at Yale. When Yale scores during a football game, spectators burst out in a song written by 1913 graduate Cole Porter. The 12 residential colleges duke it out for the Tyng Cup, the Tang Cup and the Gimbel Cup--annual prizes for winning the most intramural competitions, the fastest beer-drinking teams and the highest average GPA.
"One of the foundations of Yale is sticking to tradition and they like that they are so old," Muniz said.
And Duke, it seems, likes that it is so young.
Kelly Rohrs contributed to this story.
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