Indiana State University

Traditions

Donaghy Day

Named after Fred Donaghy, graduate of the Normal School (1912) and a professor of life sciences, this campus tradition was initiated in 1976 as a day set aside for the community to celebrate the season and to work to help beautify the campus and surrounding community.

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Homecoming

The term Homecoming was first used in print announcements for the Alumni-Varsity Basketball Game on Dec. 9, 1916. By the year 1919, this event became known as Blue and White Day and featured dances and entertainment for alumni of the Normal School. In 1921 the events were organized around a football game scheduled earlier in the autumn. A bonfire and pep rally were added to the festivities in 1922; the Blue-and-White Parade in 1923; and in 1937, Bette Whitmore (Kappa Kappa) was elected ISU¹s first Homecoming Queen. Today, Indiana State is the site for the largest student-organized Homecoming Parade in the nation.

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The unofficial tradition during homecoming is known as "The Walk", where a portion of the student population will walk along Wabash Avenue from the campus to the football stadium (about two miles), and stop at each bar along the way.

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Founders Day

January 6 - Commemorates the opening of the institution in 1870 when 23 students presented themselves to a faculty of three on the first day of classes at the Indiana State Normal School.

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Mascots

Early on in the school's history, the athletes were referred to as the "Fighting Teachers", until the students chose the name "Sycamores", from the abundance of the trees in Indiana and the Wabash River Valley. In 1969, a committee created the concept of "Chief Quabachi" of the fictional Sycamore tribe as a mascot for the school. This Native American chief (and accompanying "legend") was used as a mascot until 1989. In 1995, the university welcomed Sycamore Sam to the ISU family. He is an unidentified happy, furry forest creature, who looks suspiciously like a blue fox.

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Tandem

This student-organized race was first run as part of Spring Week activities in 1970. Teams are comprised of coed mixed pairs, which compete on tandem bicycles.

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Trike

The Indiana State Tricycle Derby was first run in 1963 as a 10-lap race around the sidewalks of the Quadrangle on children's tricycles. The races featured a men's and women's division (the Powder Puff Derby). The races now feature men's and women's teams racing on specially built tricycles at the new Recreation East complex at Ninth and Sycamore streets. In October 2005, the Michael Simmons Student Activity Center opened at Rec East, containing bleacher seating, an all-purpose room, restrooms, an observation deck, and storage.

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