One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure: Turning Friday the 13th into Colgate Day

During my first semester at Colgate, I had a lot of questions: Where was the mystical building called ‘Dana’? Why did I sign up for an 8:20 that meets Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays? Would walking up this colossal hill ever put a dent in my freshman 15? (which to my own dismay, did not.) Needless to say college was a whole new playing field and it was most certainly my first rodeo. Between trying to find where this place called “Slices” was in reference to “New York Pizzeria”, getting comfortable showering beside absolute strangers, and trying to master lingo such as “jug dogs”, there was one thing I really could not wrap my head around.

Why is everyone so obsessed with Friday the 13th?



I didn’t understand the rave. Sure, the movie was decent but how could ladders, black cats, and mirrors really raise so much hype? As a freshman, this was still something I was trying to figure out. In the anticipation of Friday the 13th, I mentally prepared myself for losing my gate card and spilling coffee on my sweater following by my internet crashing two minutes before I have to submit my first college essay. The typical “oh woe it’s me” bad luck kind of stuff.

As a freshman I had a lot of things about Colgate all wrong, and Friday the 13th was perhaps the biggests one of them. For the majority of people Friday the 13th is a dreaded day that marks more than a glass of bad with breakfast. Here in Hamilton, New York, it’s no sky-falling doomsday or ice-age of misfortune. I’ve come to learn that every Friday the 13th is popularly praised as “Colgate Day”.


So what exactly is Colgate Day?   Basically the next best thing next to Christmas.

Colgate Day is an excuse to wear all your Raider gear without any fear of overdoing it a little too much. For some, it’s an excuse to convince their mom they really need that new hoodie from the book store they’ve had their eye on. For most, it’s a day to celebrate how much we really love Colgate.

At first I’ll admit I found the idea of Colgate Day perhaps a bit cheesy. But it’s a tradition I’ve quickly come to love. It’s a day where students post on social media reminding everyone how beautiful our campus really is, a day where we reflect on the lifelong community Colgate has created for us, and a day where we take a moment to be thankful. It’s a day where everyone breathes, lives and even bleeds maroon.

And Colgate Day isn’t just celebrated on campus, at Colgate. Colgate Day pans worldwide where alumni, faculty, family and friends gather from all over different areas to mix and mingle. Try sporting some Colgate gear in an airport on Colgate Day and you will instantly feel like an A list celebrity by how many people look at you and chant “ ‘go gate!” with a smile. Who knew such a small, tight knit institution could translate into a large welcoming community in the real world? Certainly not a first-semester freshman.

In short, Colgate Day is a celebration of all things Colgate but in long, it marks a long standing tradition that connects alumni, faculty, families and students together through how much they love Colgate.

Besides,  who wouldn’t want to replace a day filled with series of unfortunate events and bad omens and replace it with one of the best holidays of the year?