Carleton's history has given rise to several notable traditions. Many of these are pranks, such as painting the college's
water tower. Most notably, a remarkably accurate likeness of President
Clinton was painted the night before his commencement speech in 2000, and repainted
very early the following morning. Clinton mentioned in his address that he "would've liked to see it". Another target was the
college's beloved then-President Steven "Skeetch" Lewis, who appeared in caricature on the tower for some time and later was bid
farewell from the same venue upon his retirement in 2002. Administrative attitudes toward
this particular phenomenon have changed over time. For liability-related reasons, even climbing the water tower is now considered
a grave infraction.Streaking is also a ubiquitous phenomenon, even in winter temperatures that
average about 15º F (-9º C), and occasionally reach as low as -25º (-32º C). More perplexingly, a bust of Friedrich Schiller appears frequently and randomly at campus events,
most notably dangled by chain from a helicopter above a football game against Northfield rival St. Olaf College. The tradition dates back to 1957, when
students were pressed into service to transfer the contents of the older Scoville Library to the newly completed Gould Library;
the bust, property of the college president, was included, presenting the opportunity to steal it. Schiller was passed on, as
stewards graduated, and continued to appear, at least once a year, but only for high-profile events. Schiller's appearance,
accompanied by a shouted "Schiller!", is a tacit challenge to other students to try to capture the bust (which has,
understandably, been replaced at least once).A baseball game known as Rotblatt, in honor (or open mockery) of player Marvin Rotblatt, is held every
spring. While Rotblatt used to be an actual intramural baseball league, it has since changed into one solitary event: a faux
baseball game involving the heavy consumption of alcohol. Rotblatt traditionally
lasts for as many innings as the College has had anniversaries; in 1997, Sports Illustrated honored it in its "Best of Everything" section with
the award, "Longest Intramural Event".Many of these traditions (and the underground passages) appear in the 1991 Pamela Dean fantasy novel
Tam Lin,
set at the fictional "Blackstock College", acknowledged in the afterword by Dean to be based on the Carleton of the early
1970s.