The atmosphere at Brown

Some consider Brown to be the "happiest Ivy." The curriculum encourages students to attempt classes in fields in which they have little previous experience and discourages competition. Brown was recently named "the most fashionable school in the Ivy League" by the fashion trade journal Women's Wear Daily on the basis that students on campus seem to have the strongest sense of personal style. Brown, like most Ivies, leans liberal. It has long had the reputation of being the "hippest" and "friendliest" of the Ivies. Brown University is also well-known for the sense of what conservatives call "political correctness" that pervades the campus.

Greek life does not dominate the social scene at Brown, as only about 9% of the students are in fraternities or sororities. There are seven fraternities, two sororities, and two co-ed societies.

Athletics

Brown is a member of the Division I Ivy League athletic conference. It sponsors 37 varsity intercollegiate teams. Its athletics program has been featured in the College Sports Honor Roll as one of the top 20 athletic programs in the country according to U.S. News & World Report. [1] 

Clubs

There are approximately 240 registered student organizations on campus with diverse interests. Student Activities Night, during the orientation program, is an opportunity for first-years to become acquainted with the wide range of clubs.

Secret societies have existed at Brown since the 18th century. One of these was the Philermenian Society (founded as the Misokosmian Society in 1794). In reaction to the Federalist Philermenians, a Democratic-Republican society called the United Brothers Society was formed in 1806, and in 1824 a third, the Franklin Society, was formally recognized by the university president. All of these societies had libraries and meeting rooms on the top floor of Hope College, and few written documents were preserved in order to protect against inter-society espionage. By the mid-19th century, these societies diminished and eventually dissolved on account of the growth in the number of Greek letter fraternities. Only the Franklin Society survived, evolving into the Society of the Pacifica House (Societas Domi Pacificae) after the Civil War. Pacifica House remains the only secret society at Brown today.

Traditions

Though the early history of Brown's traditions as a men's school includes a number of unusual hazing traditions, the University's present-day traditions tend to be non-violent while maintaining the spirit of zaniness (Poulson 2004 ).

One of Brown's most notable traditions is keeping alive the spirit and accomplishments of Josiah Carberry, the fictional Professor of Psychoceramics (the equally fictional study of cracked pots), who was born on a University Hall billboard. He is the namesake of "Josiah's", a University-run snackbar. "Josiah" is also the name of the University's electronic library catalog . Every Friday the 13th is "Josiah Carberry Day" and students throw pennies into cracked pots on campus.

Starting in 1960, Brown replaced a traditional Junior Dance with a Spring Weekend concert on the college's main green, which has, in the past, brought in acts such as Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Ella Fitzgerald, Bo Diddley, Peter, Paul and Mary, James Brown, Janis Joplin, Ike and Tina Turner, Blue Öyster Cult, Bruce Springsteen, U2, R.E.M., Afrika Bambaata, Elvis Costello, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, George Clinton, The Fugees, Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo, Busta Rhymes, and G. Love & Special Sauce. Recent acts include They Might Be Giants, Ben Harper, The Get Up Kids, The Roots, The Wallflowers, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, and Jurassic 5.

The Spring Weekend 2005 lineup includes Ben Folds, Howie Day, The Shins, and Talib Kweli.

At the end of each semester, on the last day of "reading period", when students study for exams, naked students walk into the Rockefeller and Science Libraries and hand out donuts to their peers.

Every fall, the Brown University Co-Op's (BACH) throw an invitation-only "naked party" where all guests remove their clothes upon entry. The party is known for good times, but not for lewdness. The hosts aim to create a comfortable setting where people of all body types can celebrate the naked human body.

One evening during each year's Spring Weekend, athletic/alcoholic Brown students gather down at the India Point Park walking path, lugging countless 30-packs of inexpensive light beer. The entrants in the Chug 'N Run chug a beer, run a mile, chug a beer, run a mile, chug a beer, run a mile, then chug one last victory beer. Not everybody makes it to beer #4, and much comic beer explusion occurs along the way. Less adventurous students can walk the course alongside the runners as part of the "Sip&Stroll". This annual tradition, started by Brown women athletes, involves a surprisingly high number of gung-ho female students.

• Students rub the nose of the bust of John Hay for good luck on exams.
• Seniors sleep in the Sciences Library some time before graduation.
• Students have sex on the 13th floor of the Sciences Library.
• Students avoid the Brown seal on the steps leading to the Pembroke green for a variety of reasons
  • Female students avoid the seal to ward off pregnancy, although avoiding the Sciences Library would seem to be more effective.
  • Previously, Pembroke students avoided the seal to ensure that they would get married.
  • Previously, male Brown students avoided the seal to ensure they would graduate in four years.
• Students can pass through the Van Wickle Gates only twice- once upon entering the University during Convocation, and once again during Commencement (superstition has it that students who pass through the gates for a second time before graduation do not graduate). Undergraduate members of the Brown Band who must pass through the gates during the Commencement ceremonies walk through it backwards.

Alma Mater

Alma Mater, we Hail thee with loyal devotion
And bring to thine altar our off'ring of praise;
Our hearts swell within us with joyful emotion,
As the name of Old Brown in loud chorus we raise.
The happiest moments of youth's fleeting hours
We've passed 'neath the shade of these time-honored walls;
And sorrows as transient as April's brief showers
Have clouded our life in Brunonia's halls.

Ever True To Brown

We are ever true to Brown,
For we love our college dear,
And wherever we may go,
We are ready with a cheer!
And the people always say,
(What do they say?)
That you can't outshine
Brown men, (or women!)
With their RAH! RAH! RAH!
And their KI! YI! YI!
And their B R O W . . . N!

Ever True To Brown (Drinking)

We are ever true to Brown,
For we love our college dear,
And wherever we may go,
We are ready with a beer!
And the people always say,
(What do they say?)
That you can't outdrink
Brown men (or women!)
With a Scotch and Rye
And a Whiskey Dry
And B O U R . . B O N!