University of Nebraska
At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the beginning of the freshmen beanie tradition is a mystery. A photograph of folklorist Louise Pound and author Willa Cather, taken in the early 1890s, shows Louise in a cap. Could this be a freshman beanie? It’s possible. The purpose of wearing beanies or caps on campus was to identify new students, to instill class spirit, and to allow students to get acquainted.1 The UN caps were green until 1932, when the colors switched to scarlet and cream.2 The change in color was “an effort to have the freshmen feel the necessity and not shame for the observance of this custom – perhaps the oldest tradition in the University.”3
The Innocents Society at the University, which began on April 24, 1903, managed the cap sales along with other student activities, such as banquets and convocations. The Society even provided rules to make sure the caps were worn appropriately. All male students were required to wear a cap after freshman convocation early in the semester, each day, and at all university events. Caps could be removed only on the date and time that the Innocents Society provided.4 First-year women were given the option of wearing a red “N” button rather than a cap.5
Most often, freshmen were required to wear a beanie until the freshmen-sophomore Olympics event. The Olympics at the UN campus took place each year on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. In 1931, the freshman class won at a tug-of-war and celebrated when they, “snatching scarlet and cream caps from their heads yesterday hurled them into the air and proclaimed victory over the sophomores at the conclusion of their tug-of-war.”6 If the freshmen had lost they would have been required to wear caps until Christmas.7
After this victory a member of the Innocents Society considered the long-term value of the freshman beanies. “Although every freshmen is obviously happy to be relieved of their compulsory headgear, Ed Faulkner, speaking for the Innocents, asked them not to toss them to the wayside while in their present mood. ‘These caps should be kept by every man of the freshmen class for it will be a prize of priceless value in years to come,’ ” Faulkner declared.”8
The cap tradition may have been more valued by members of the upper classes. Very often, freshmen classes did not have the same enthusiasm for the beanie tradition, though it was considered “not a punishment but rather an honor to wear one, as they tend to bind the freshman class closer together than any of the other three classes.9”
-Mary Ellen Ducey
Three students roast their freshmen beanies over an open fire, Nov. 11, 1962.
