By Erin Kingrey
erin@newsroom.byu.edu
The evidence is mounting. From changes in courtship rituals to adjusted acronyms and pranks, evolution is a real phenomenon at BYU.
Thirty years ago, students proudly attended 'the BYU' and enjoyed lunch at Heaps of Pizza.
Today, 'the BYU' has ditched the 'the' and uses 'BYU,' and 'Heaps' was Brick Oven, just south of campus.
These are not the only changes. What do a BYU co-eds and a quarter have in common?
Co-ed jokes are less common than they were to earlier generations, said Kristi Bell, curator of folklore archives at BYU.
Bell also listed other traditions of the past, including whitewashing the 'Y,' the election of Homecoming queens and dating practices such as candle passing.
Paula Larsen attended BYU in the early 1970s, and remembers candle passing as a strange tradition.
When a female student in the dorms was engaged, she would keep it a secret until the candle passing. Signs were posted all over the dorm announcing the celebration, and often up to 200 girls would attend, Larsen said.
The girls would then gather in a circle. In the middle there was a candle with an engagement ring around it. The lights would go out, and the candle was lit, Larsen said.
Each girl took a turn passing the candle around the circle. The second or third time around, the girl who was engaged would blowout the candle, and the rest of the girls would know she was getting married, Larsen said.
The fianc?e would then be invited in, and the couple would share the story of their engagement and their plans for the future, Larsen said.
Steve Johnston graduated from BYU in 1973. He remembers engagement traditions among the male students.
When Johnston announced his engagement he was bound, gagged, driven to Utah Lake, and dumped in the lake by his roommates.
Another cited BYU engagement tradition involved couples being dumped into the pond south of campus on Maeser Hill.
Today traditions are less dramatic, though roommates of the couple may request a steak dinner from the engaged couple.
Another tradition that has changed involves the dress code. Women attending BYU at the turn of the millennium may find the current dress standards less restrictive.
Nancy Hunsaker, a former Cougarette, graduated from BYU in 1966. In her college years, female students were not permitted to wear jeans on campus.
Hunsaker said she disguised the jeans she was wearing by wearing an extra-long coat over the top. This trick allowed her to eat in the Cannon Center, she said.
A 1974 BYU graduate, Chris Larsen, recalled the late 1960s and early 1970s as a time when young people rejected traditions, though campus pranks ran rampant.
He remembered water being dyed red in the fountains that used to be in front of the Abraham O. Smoot Administration Building, just before a football game against the University of Utah.
Mr. Larson also remembered several other times when BYU students filled the fountains with bubbles, much to the dismay of many administrators.
Over the years, fountains have been removed, engagements are frequently less dramatic and current students of 'the BYU' merely clean the 'Y' - that is now painted white - on the mountain.
Nevertheless, each generation has its traditions, and each generation has its memories to share.