Traying

The other day while checking Facebook I saw the Kent State University Alumni Association Facebook Page and there was a question asking - who remembers “Traying down the Front Campus Hill?” Then it followed an invitation to join others on the KSU campus on January 24, from 1-3 to relive that tradition which is now known as Tray Fest.

I probably won’t sign up for the Tray Fest but it did bring back memories of traying on campus when I was a student at Kent. I remember grabbing a tray from the cafeteria with my friends and other students. We used the trays to go down the Front Campus Hill or Blanket Hill. Everyone did it. It was fun.

I also remember “panty raids” and after the first spring rain… “Mud fights”. If you were around the area with all the mud you would get into a mud fight or get picked up and thrown into the mud.  Along with that memory, I remember walking through the campus on my way to class on Wednesdays when there was a handful of protestors with signs to Stop the War In Viet Nam.

When I was a freshman we had to wear navy blue beanies with a K on the front. As we passed the upper classmen, they would say “Dink, Frosh.” A freshman would tip their beanie; give their name, home town, and what dorm they were living in.

There are some other good memories, like attending a fraternity Toga Party or Las Vegas Casino Party where they set up the frat house like a casino.

I also remember the black squirrels that ran around the campus and the sign on the grass that read, “Grass grows by the inch and dries by the foot.”

Back when I went to college, I studied a lot but there was always time to have fun. I came away from Kent with not only a degree in journalism, but with a number of good memories of my four years at Kent State University!