ALTHOUGH student life at Michigan has been rich in traditions, many of them have been comparatively short-lived. Efforts by the various classes to "establish" traditions often resulted in practices which died out without leaving a memory or a record of their demise. Class observances, such as the "Burning of Mechanics," the carrying of canes, the wearing of caps and pins, "exhibitions," dances, banquets, and games, have come and gone with time. Yet some have persisted throughout the years. When the Michigan Union was established in 1904 and the Student Council in 1905, central agencies were set up to preserve some of the old traditions. The great growth of the student body, however, and the formation of clubs and societies did much to dissipate class spirit and to lessen the interest in class activities. Organized athletics also provided a greater outlet for student emotional exuberance, with the result that many of the old customs were lost in the maze and helter-skelter of student life.
The wearing of some type of class cap has been traditional since the early days of the University. In 1868 students of the Literary Department adopted an "Oxford" style of class cap, blue with a square top, a black tassel in the center, and a movable "U. of M." visor. Caps with the class date '70, however, appear to have caused confusion and trouble because their wearers were not always members of that class; as a result this particular type of cap became an oddity. It is interesting to note that in 1870 Acting President Frieze and various professors also wore caps somewhat similar in style. The class of '72 adopted caps of blue broadcloth with small tassels and the class numerals in silver braid. The class of '73, of course, "rushed" them after chapel by throwing flour from the top of the stairs leading to the law lecture room, where the exercises were held. In 1877 a genuine mortar-board style of cap was chosen, but owing to lack of interest the effort to preserve the tradition failed at that time. Most of the senior classes wore distinctive caps in 1880, however, and the prevailing style in that year was the mortar board. In 1881 the seniors wore maroon fez caps with old-gold tassels, the juniors white "plugs," the sophomores white "derbies," and the freshmen black mortar boards with cardinal tassels. Senior "medics" wore black silk hats, the senior "laws" straw "derbies" with bands of blue and maize, and the pharmacy students Mackinac straw hats with bands of old-gold and cardinal. The sophomores of '85 and '87 also adopted class caps. During the early 1900's the tradition was revived for the freshman class, which adopted the once familiar gray "pot," with colored button to designate the school or department.
Cap Night was first celebrated on Saturday, June 11, 1904, at a student mass meeting held about a bonfire near the Medical Building. Songs were sung, speeches made, and the freshmen, as a symbol of their "graduating" from the ranks of "first-year men," burned the gray caps which they had worn all year. The celebration became an annual affair. Cap Night, held in "Sleepy Hollow," was designated in 1906 as the "first Saturday night in June," and the custom was continued for many years. Under the direction of the Student Council, the classes marched to the meeting place, in the 1920's the hollow to the east of the main Hospital Building, the senior class in cap and gown, to watch the burning of the caps. "M's"
