Features
Folklore legends create sense of community
Michele Hale;
“When a virgin walks by at
the University of Nebraska,
Greek columns crumble, at In
diana University a clock tower
rings, and at Capitol Campus,
the Nittany Lion crumbles.”
This is but one in a collection
of outrageous legends, that echo
the corridors of universities
across the country, compiled by
our local folklorist, Dr. Simon
Bronner.
Bronner, who has assumed a
double identity as a professor
and ‘ ‘wandering folklorist, ”
feels that Capitol'Campus
students possess their own
grab-bag of iargon words,
parodies and antics.
Included in this miscellany of
zany college customs are
thoughts on grading, sex and
relations, establishing a sense
of community among peers,
test taking and cheating and the
possession of material folklore,
which includes paraphernalia in
on campus housing ranging
Dr. Simon Bronner.
from beer bottles in windows to
posters on walls.
While Bronner believes that
college life itself is a rite of
passage, he recognizes the cor
ny humor of fraternity songs,
the tradition of college pranks
and the subliminal life of living
“All the buildings in the world
could never represent the true
experience of campus life.”
Dr. Simon Bronner
Assistant Prof. Folklore
and Am. Studies
in the dorms, as a common ele
ment of “college folklore.”
“College Folklore includes
stories such as knocking three
times before walking in on your
roommate, telephone pranks on
Sles’ birthdays and the
tion of singing fraternity
songs,” said Bronner.
Bronner, who has been Assis
tant Professor of Folklore and
American studies at Capitol
Campus for two years, has
served as curator to Folklore
Museums as well as contributor
and editor to several folklore
publications, is a man concern
ed with tradition.
In a room filled with folklore
posters, mobiles, comic strip
clips, artifacts, and shelves
overflowing with books and
country music tapes, Bronner
revealed ajew of the most
humorous beliefs and practices
of college students.
“Students are fascinated with
how a letter grade mysteriously
appears on their paper a few
days after it’s been turned in,”
he said.
For example, “There’s the
story of the professor who
threw his papers down the steps
and whichever ones landed on
the first step got “A’s,” those
on the second step got “B’s”
and so on.”
He added, “There’s also the
story of the professor who had a
cat, dipped nis paws in paint,
and had him walk across the
papers, leaving one paw print
for “A’s,” two for “B’s,” and
three for “C’s.”
When asked about his own
grading techniques, Bronner
added that his were to remain a
well-kept secret.
As a professor, Bronner grin
ned while he spoke of tardy pro
fessors, who are an intimate
part of “College Folklore,” a
“College folklore includes stories such as knocking three times
before walking in on your roommate, telephone pranKs on people’s
birthdays, and the tradition of singing fraternity songs.”
subject dating back to the col
legiate rituals of the Greeks.
“Students generally wait 15
minutes for a professor, 10
minutes for an assistant pro
fessor, five minutes for an
associate professor, and they
never wait for an instructor,”
he said.
Through his love for humor,
Bronner has discovered that
two of the most innate
characteristics of P.S.U.
students is the telling of what
he claims are “sick jokes,” and
their profound use of
vocabulary.
“Besides dead baby and
Helen Keller jokes, there are
also jokes about how long it
takes to screw in a light bulb,”
said Bronner.
“At Three-Mile Island, (some
say in Pennsylvania), it takes
no one, a person just holds it up
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and it glows, at Capitol Campus
it takes one person to screw it
in and two to kick the ladder
out from under him,” he said,
adding: “Students describe
easy courses as guts, cake,
breeze and hard courses are
known as bitches and ball
breakers.”
Other words in the general
vocabulary include cram, flunk,
hit the books and “to get a
dog,” which means to get a
“D.”
As an adviser to the Graduate
Student Association as well as
PI SIGMA CHI, Bronner sees a
decline in the absurdity of col
lege customs from the pastand
acknowledges the need for
folklore as a means of getting
in touch with hidden concerns.
“We no longer have freshmen
beenies, dress codes have
changed, hazing has almost
disappeared and colleges have
become deficient in the produc
tion of desk top graffiti and
yearbook signatures,” said
Bronner as he leafed through
disheveled binders of folklore
data.
“Colleges are not in as much
of a turmoil as they used to be,
nor are college campuses as
concerned with philosophy and
protest as they were in the
past,” he added.
While College Folklore is a
tool Bronner uses to introduce
to students their own culture,
he feels that Capitol Campus
Dr. Simon Bronner
falls short of representing what
college life is all about.
“It is vital to achieve a sense
of community, and a two-year
campus is an anti
establishment of the feeling of
campus life.” he said ddding,
“All the buildings in the world
could never represent the true
experience of a campus life.”
Bronner believes that time
will bring students back to the
playfulness of exchanging dor
mitory stories, cheerleading
yells and college pranks, to ex
press our frustrations and
goals.
“With time there will be a
stronger sense of community
established through folklore,’’
he said positively, while relax
ing in corduroys and cowboy
boots, in a style that creates a
folklore of his own.