By Caleb Wheeler | Staff Writer
The slime cap is an age-old Baylor tradition. As a staple of freshman attire, it became a Baylor tradition when students would wear a green cap with a yellow bill that proudly displayed their graduation year and hometown.
The caps are no longer mandatory, but it’s time for them to come back.
In the 1940s, the term “slime” became prominent as a way to refer to freshmen. Today, at least in my experience, if you were to go around campus in your slime cap, you’d likely get weird looks, and people would probably think you’re strange.
However, I think it’s time to put an end to the idea that slime caps are an outdated fad. Freshmen need to reclaim the honor that used to come with wearing our caps with pride.
“The slime cap is enduring because it symbolizes a rite of passage,” Dr. Dub Oliver, former dean for student development, said in 2004. “New freshman students realize that they are in this together. They are one class. The slime cap is uniquely Baylor, and that makes it enduring as well. There are also a large number of alumni who speak fondly of their slime caps and their memories as freshman students.”
Oliver’s statement came at a point when the slime cap tradition was all but extinct. Since then, the tradition has returned but is once again waning.
“They’re fun and cool, but they’re just a way to target freshmen,” Paola, Kan., freshman Aaron Koechner said.
This is true: The original purpose of the caps was to identify freshmen, and some students may be worried that hazing may come about because of them. But Baylor has a hazing policy that ensures that sort of treatment will not occur. Rather, the caps would be a sign of pride for being a new Baylor student.
“If it was a normal thing and everyone wore it, then I probably would wear it,” Koechner said.
When I walk around campus wearing my slime cap, I get one of two reactions. Some people appreciate the school spirit of proudly donning the cap, but most people look at me like I am weird for wearing a fun and unique piece of our university’s history.
Former Baylor classes identify the slime caps as a tradition Baylor holds near and dear, which shows how much our traditions mean to us. That is the spirit we need to reclaim. It’s time we take a stand for our freshman pride and embrace our title as “slimes.”
