Welcome @VillanovaU First Year Students! University Archives takes it back to Freshman Orientation of yesteryear https://t.co/wmQ2TbR0Qn pic.twitter.com/V0Un66jR9y
— Villanova Digital Library (@VillanovaDigLib) August 24, 2021
Villanova Library has a nice retrospective of the school’s freshman orientations, with cool archive photos from yearbooks dating from 1931 through 1967.
Having freshmen, or “frosh” as they were often referred to, wear beanies, was hardly a unique tradition at Villanova. If anything, there was a time when probably at least half the first-year students in the country donned the little caps (sometimes referred to as “dinks”) during their freshman orientation period.
Button Frosh!
As is noted on the Valparaiso University Facebook Page – When freshmen heard these dreaded words, they were required to stop, place both index fingers on the button of their beanie, and perform deep-knee bends. Initiated by the upperclassmen, the ritual known as “buttoning” was an integral part of the freshman experience.
From “The Hawk,” St. Joe’s student newspaper, 1940