Full Moon on the Quad (Stanford University, Calif.)
Per its name, the Full-Moon-on-the-Quad tradition at Stanford University takes place during the first full moon of the fall quarter on the main quad on campus. It originally began as a formal ritual in which senior guys would hand roses to freshman ladies and exchange a chaste kiss. It has evolved (or descended?) to an all-out make-out fest in which students of all ages try to kiss as many of their peers as possible. Bingo board T-shirts have even been spotted with specifications for people from various states, dorms, etc. The Stanford mascot, the tree, holds onto a clicker to see just how many kisses he can rack up. The event has aptly been nicknamed “Mono on the Quad.”

Ledyard Challenge (Dartmouth College, N.H.)
Each year, enterprising Dartmouth students take on the Ledyard Challenge, in which they swim across the Connecticut River to Vermont, and then streak back across the Ledyard Bridge to New Hampshire. It’s important to remember that Dartmouth is located in New Hampshire, which experiences a long and frosty winter. This is the season in which most attempt the challenge. Ivy League students, every one.

Scavenger Hunt (University of Chicago, Ill.)
The University of Chicago’s annual scavenger hunt is no average game. Taking place on Mother’s Day weekend, it represents the largest hunt in the world (verified by Guinness). It goes on for four days, and activities have been as wild and varied as building a nuclear reactor, taking a picture with a lion on campus, or acquiring a Medal of Honor. It’s rumored that two graduate students actually managed the reactor bit, but it remains unconfirmed – most likely due to national security reasons.

Mirror Lake Jump (Ohio State University, OH)
Ohio State is known for many things, but its most defining one is likely its dominant football team. Therefore, the night before OSU’s annual grudge match against the University of Michigan, students jump into Mirror lake in the middle of the campus quad. Like other naked-swimming school traditions, it takes place in November, which, in Ohio, means it’s typically 40 degrees or below. School officials have tried to make the event as safe as possible rather than attempt to shut it down, and it’s estimated that more than $40,000 is spent annually on security, emergency personnel, and more.

Renn Fayre (Reed College, Ore.)
While small in size, Reed College makes a name for itself with its annual Renn Fayre. Originally a modest and formal Renaissance Fair, it has become a three-day blowout in which students partake in annual Renaissance-era activities such as lube wrestling, body paint, fireworks, and a glow opera. Renn Fayre is preceded by Nitrogen Day, a campus tribute to what students have deemed “one of the universe’s most important, yet under-appreciated elements.”

Time Ceremony (Oxford College, U.K.)
Oxford College makes the list with its Time Ceremony, taking place on the last Sunday in October. Merton College, one of the constituent colleges of Oxford, has its students walk backwards around the Fellows’ Quad drinking port in the last hours of the day. The reason is simple: to maintain the space-time continuum during the change from British summer time to Greenwich Mean Time. Oh, those Oxford kids…

Drop Date (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mass.)
Most universities have a scheduled drop date, or the last day that students can drop classes without penalty in a semester. But at MIT, students bring a piano up to the top of the Baker House dormitory and throw it off the roof – onto another piano that is sitting down below. The tradition began in 1972 for reasons unclear, but, like most university traditions, it has taken on a life of its own.

Orgo Night (Columbia University, N.Y.)
Organic chemistry is no joke, so Columbia students who are cramming for the orgo final need a way to release stress. Every year on the night before the university’s most difficult exam, the Columbia University marching band takes over the reading room of the main library on campus and performs an hour-long show, complete with comedy, video, music, and, of course, the alma mater. It doesn’t necessarily help anyone study, but it is a welcome break.

Raisin Weekend (St. Andrews, Scotland)
Raisin Weekend, meant to celebrate friendship at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, is perhaps one of the stranger traditions on this list. Each November, beans and foam are thrown at the freshman class, who each have to carry around their gift from their “mother” or “father” – a raisin string for the girls, and a receipt for a bottle of wine for the guys. Nobody on the outside can really understand what exactly is going on, but the student union inevitably turns into an emergency room, as students seeking refuge from the mayhem gather for medical treatment.

Excessively Overdressed Quad Stroll (Tufts University, Mass.)
Given the high percentage of university traditions that embrace nudity, it’s no surprise that one administration finally had enough. At Tufts University in Massachusetts, the university banned the end-of-fall Naked Quad Run in 2011. As a result, students instituted the Excessively Overdressed Quad Stroll, in which they don the most formal clothing available and promenade through the campus. “Formal” is of course relative, as recent years had students sporting Hawaiian shirts, flapper dresses, and bizarre hats.