Birthdays in the Fountain

When your birthday rolls around, you may want to trade your jeans for swim trunks! Students are often dunked in Miller Fountain by their classmates to celebrate another year of life. The tradition dates back to the 1960s, when the completion of a reflection pond on upper campus ushered in a new tradition of ceremonial dunkings on birthdays, pledge days, and other celebrations. The immersions displeased administration, but that didn’t dissuade the students! Concerns about injuries, as well as high maintenance costs, eventually resulted in the pond’s demise into a green area. Undaunted, students found another source in 1966, when the Eugenia B. Miller Fountain was completed.