Mudd Traditions- Anya ’23

Mudd has developed plenty of traditions and lore over the years. Prank club has pulled some truly spectacular stunts like stealing CalTech’s cannon, erecting a pedestal saying that it is “on loan from HMC,” or labeling CalTech as “Harvey Mudd: Pasadena campus.” On campus, we have lore of why our honor code forbids siege weapons, or the supposedly unrustable sculpture. My favorite tradition by far though is what our dining hall does for the holidays.

Around Thanksgiving, we have “Hochsgiving” which is a special thanksgiving meal. Some dorms make it a dorm event too, dressing up and going together. My dorm doesn’t do that, instead, I meet up with my freshman roommates to reconnect with them. We already meet up at least every week for brunch, and often see each other at other points, but it is still really nice to have that set time to catch up with them now that we have different rooms and are in different classes. There is also a photo booth, along with the great food. We do a similar thing before winter break with “Hochmas.” Last year at Hochmas the photo booth came along with Dean Chris and Professor Yong dressed up as Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus.

For Valentine’s day, we put up paper hearts on the walls, one for each student, teacher, and some of the staff called “Hoch Hearts.” They stay up for a week or so for people to write messages to each other, then people can take their heart to keep. It is really touching to read all the messages from my friends.

There is not a specific pi day celebration at Hoch to celebrate what is in my opinion the nerdiest of holidays, but I still find ways to celebrate with my friends. This past pi day, for example, we walked down to a bakery in the Village called, I Like Pie and spent time there. All in all, even if the holidays are not quite the same as being home with my family, they are still a lot of fun and the traditions that surround them are one of my favorite parts about Mudd.