Howdy Week: new school-year kickoff, reunion of returning friends after a summer’s separation, official welcome into the Frog family for new freshmen.

Helping freshmen blend into the student body was not always a priority in planning the activities, however. From the mid-40s until the late 60s, all freshmen could be identified by beanies emblazoned with their graduating class year. They were expected to wear them from the time they arrived on campus until the Frogs won their first football game.

“If we were caught without them, the sophomores would harass us,” said Mary Ruth Jones ’58, who still has her freshman beanie. “We had to wear them at all times, except when showering or sleeping.”

Colleges and universities across the country had similar beanie traditions during that period. Freshmen would have to follow rules set by upperclassmen, as a means of orienting them to college life.

Now, orienting freshmen to TCU is in the hands of student development services and admissions (rather than upperclassmen). Some universities still distribute beanies to incoming students, but only as a means of preserving school tradition.