Habits of Hoosiers

Since 1912, when the IU fight song was first played at a football game against Northwestern University, students, faculty, and alumni have been cheering on the cream and crimson.      

But IU traditions, beginning in 1820 when the school was founded, go deeper than candy-cane colors and a catchy tune. The Little 500 bicycle race, Hoosier basketball, the Kelley School of Business and the scenic campus are only a few of the attractions that create the “glory of old IU.”     

“I’m from San Jose, California,” junior ballet major Dylan Giles, said. “I decided to come here after I saw the exceptional talent of the dancers in the program.”        
Besides ballet, the Jacobs School of Music, established 89 years ago, offers the study of all facets of music.     

“The number of performances put on by the Jacobs School of Music each year numbers in the thousands,” Giles said. “The ballet department performs in the MAC (Musical Arts Center), an impressive theater with a stage only slightly smaller than the Met in New York.”      

Across campus at Assembly Hall, large crowds are frequent at men’s basketball games. For close to 20 games each year, Hoosier fans wearing red-striped sweatpants and holding signs surround the court. There is undeniable pride in the five NCAA championships and 20 Big Ten Conference championships the men’s basketball team has won.      

Sophomore Erica Ridderman and a group of her friends bought a package of season basketball tickets last winter.      

“During one of the first games of the season, I remember really feeling like a Hoosier,” she said. “It’s just great to be around so much excitement and enthusiasm.”      

Although basketball is at the heart of IU athletic tradition, Athletics Director Fred Glass encourages pride and unity among all the University’s Division One sports teams with the slogan “24 sports, one team.”  

One of the biggest traditions at IU and the inspiration for the 1979 film “Breaking Away,” is Little 500, or “Little 5.” Type “the world’s greatest college weekend” into Google, and the first five results point to the annual 200-lap race at Bill Armstrong Stadium.     

Headlines capturing the excitement of “Little 5” line the front page of the Indiana Daily Student before and after the event. The school’s student-run newspaper allows paid employees to organize, write, edit, design, and take photographs for the publication.     

“I decided to join the IDS staff this spring,” said junior Erin Walgamuth, a journalism major. “Knowing that it is constantly ranked in the top 20 college newspapers in the country, I thought it would be a good experience for my future.”
Sociology Professor Thomas Gieryn and history and philosophy of science professor James Capshew teamed up to compile IU culture and traditions into a one-credit online course.     

“I liked learning about the history of my school,” said Ridderman, a philosophy major who took the 8-week course last spring. “It made me feel connected to IU, and appreciate certain aspects more.”