Opinion

I’m begging you to bring back the beanies!

There are tons of Trinity traditions that have died, and they must be revived

Samara Gerstle, Editor-in-Chief • 137 Views

August 22, 2025

Trinity students attend a football game in Alamo Stadium in 1955. Note first-year students wearing beanies with Class of ’59 numerals

Trinity University Digital Archives

This summer was the first one in my time that the Trinitonian did not get a grant for the NSO issue. It was the first summer in which Managing Editor Diya and I had to gather 12 editors remotely to get work done for this issue, all while everyone was working other full-time positions. It’s been a challenge, honestly, but with the theme we chose, “through the decades,” it gave us the opportunity to scour the archives. I discovered so many cool traditions that Trinity used to have. Here are a few that I’m begging the student body to bring back.

Freshmen Beanies

First-years don their beanies (Trinity University)

In this photograph Taylor Chandler, Jr. (class of 1956) models a Davy Crockett coonskin hat for co-ed Kay Caskey (class of 1955) while Jim Sanders (class of 1954) expresses his displeasure. The upperclass students in the photograph were debating whether to require incoming first-year to wear this type of cap instead of the traditional beanie. The beanie won out. c. 1953 (Trinity University)

Beginning in the 1900s, Trinity first-years were asked to wear beanies with their names and class year sewn on the front. They would wear the beanies until the end of new student orientation, when they had “Flag Day” — essentially a campus-wide game of Capture the Flag. If the first-year class found the flag, they could take off the beanies; if they didn’t, they had to wear the beanies for another week. The tradition ended in the 1970s.

These beanies need to come back. I know that I, personally, would love to have a beanie with my name and class year, but I’m a collector. I know that some people wouldn’t really care, and there are issues that come with forcing new students to wear a beanie. Even Trinity acknowledged that upperclassmen abused first-years wearing the beanies; first-years were not allowed to group together and had to stand for upperclassmen walking in a room. I don’t want new students feeling singled out, and making them wear something that other students don’t have to would have that effect.

I say that we bring the beanies back, but with a twist. Students should get them with their dorm keys during move-in but not wear them until they’re seniors.

There should be a day when seniors are asked to wear these beanies — maybe on their last day of school, maybe for a period of time on the day of graduation. Seniors won’t have the same inclination to fit in; they’ve already made the space for themselves. Instead of first-years feeling like they have to prove themselves, making seniors wear the beanies will offer a time to connect with the people you came to college with and reminisce on their experiences while there. I know I would do it.

Sperm Squad

From 1972 to 1989, Trinity had spirit squads: the Sperm and the Ova. They would perform during halftime events at football games, the Sperm dressed in white and occasionally covered in shaving cream and the Ova dressed in pink or white to perform a “fertility ritual.”

Students pose in their sperm and ova costumes. (Coates Library Digital Collection)

Previous editor-in-chief Logan Crews asked to bring the Sperm Squad back in an editorial from 2023, but I want to reiterate the point. The Sperm and Ova spirit squads must come back.

Logan offered the perspective that it was an easy way for students to get involved and make friends, and I agree. It’s also hilarious and entertaining; it would give students an opportunity to attend more games and feel more of that school spirit.

I concede that it is a little racy, but when are college students anything else? It’s harmless, and if there’s ever a time to do silly and non-PG activities, college is the time.

Tower climb

The most-recently-deceased tradition is the Murchison Tower Climb. When new students came to Trinity, they used to walk the stairs up to the top of the tower, ring the bell and shake the president’s hand. It was something that was promised to me when I toured Trinity, — even my mother was excited about it.

Students leave their marks by signing bricks after donating to the senior class gift. (Trinity University)

Then, in 2021, a brick from the tower fell on a student’s head, and the tradition ended. I think Trinity had the correct response — allowing more students to go inside the tower when one had already been injured would not have been the right thing to do. The tower needed construction.

But every one of my classmates wishes that they had the opportunity to climb the tower. I wish that I did too, and once the tower is no longer falling apart, it’s something we need to bring back.

It gives students the chance to meet their president — to come face-to-face with the person representing them. Beyond that, though, it’s just awesome. The tower is such a massive marker of our university, and getting to see the inside makes people feel more like part of the community. With how much Trinity boasts about our tight-knit community, I think having a tradition that aids in that is incredibly important.

Trinity already has some great longstanding traditions. Getting thrown in the fountain every year on my birthday is ridiculously fun. I’ll still grimace at students who walk on the seal in front of Northrup Hall before graduation. I get nachos every Wednesday in Coates Student Center, but there can never be enough traditions, as long as they’re appropriate. These three traditions were some of my favorites, and though they should be altered, they should make a return.