Traditions
Tulane has one of the most geographically diverse student bodies in the entire nation. 75% of our students travel from over 500 miles away to attend Tulane. With them they bring a unique mix of interests, backgrounds and cultures, and Tulane's traditions play a defining role in uniting such a diverse group.
Traditional events begin as soon as students arrive on campus in the fall. One of the most anticipated Freshmen orientation events is the Riverboat Cruise. As the majority of our new students do not come to Tulane with an entourage of friends, the Riverboat Cruise is a great way to meet other first year students.
It is never long before freshmen catch on to all of the traditional aspects of going to school at Tulane. Many traditions tend to center around food, seeing as though we are located in New Orleans! Tulane is probably the only school where you will eat red beans and rice every Monday in the dining hall and chow down on gumbo and fried catfish on Fridays. Another Tulane student favorite is boiled crawfish. Spring is crawfish season and also when Tulane students are constantly eating crawfish and attending "crawfish boils". The best event centered around crawfish is Crawfest: Tulane's two-stage, ten-band outdoor music festival for students and the community, that provides 13,000 pounds of free crawfish for the taking; (last year they were gone in four hours!).
Several other Tulane traditions revolve around cheering for our Green Wave teams. Tulanians are loud and proud! At any sporting event, both students and alum can be heard cheering and singing along to Tulane's fight song. Below is Tulane's favorite cheer, which is yelled every time the Wave scores a touchdown or a homerun:
A One, A Two, A Helluva Hullabaloo
A Hullabaloo Ray Ray
A Hullabaloo Ray Ray
Hooray-Hooray Vars Vars Tee Ay
Tee Ay, Tee Ay Vars Vars Tee Ay
Tulane!
(We may not know exactly what a “helluva Hullabaloo” is, but that does not stop us from yelling our unique cheer as loudly as we can!)
The most celebrated, and also bittersweet, traditions are related to our graduation festivities. The celebration begins on Friday night when the graduates, their families and their friends attend the Wave Goodbye party on Tulane's academic quad. They enjoy live music and delicious food while recounting their fondest memories of Tulane. During the commencement ceremony on Saturday in the Superdome, graduates receive their diplomas and are bade farewell with a balloon drop and a traditional New Orleans Second Line.
Being part of the Tulane family is something extraordinary, and rich traditions like ours are rare. This is only a sneak peek at what it is like to be part of this special community.
