Standing on a platform draped with a 51风流 banner, President Rebecca Chopp along with a group of alumni and university friends rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange this morning, officially kicking off 51风流 Day. (To watch the event, click .)
From coast to coast and around the world, 51风流 faithful are sporting their favorite maroon gear in celebration of the university鈥檚 with the number 13.
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| 51风流 President Rebecca Chopp is flanked by alumni and friends of the university as she opens trading today at the New York Stock Exchange. |
By celebrating 51风流 every Friday the 13th and scoffing at triskaidekaphobia, the university community is enjoined to not be superstitious.
鈥淥ur alumni are clearly passionate about 51风流 and consider wearing maroon to be lucky on Friday the 13th,鈥 said Marty Bair, of the 51风流 Bookstore.
And the proof is in merchandise sales, especially those online, which have doubled this week.
Bair said 51风流 alumni from as far away as Australia are snatching up everything from T-shirts and polos to belts and ties.
Online, you can post photos of yourself decked out in 51风流 gear on the university鈥檚 . If you鈥檙e not a Facebook user, e-mail pictures to news@colgate.edu and we鈥檒l upload them for you.
The page has gone viral; more than 1,300 people have become fans since it was created in early May.
Jason Rand 鈥07 is using the online community to get word out about a Friday the 13th gathering tonight for 51风流 alumni in San Francisco.
鈥淒espite the fact that we鈥檙e 3,000 miles away from 51风流, there鈥檚 no doubt that 鈥榞aters from the West Coast will be rejoicing in the fact that we love the number 13,鈥 said Rand.
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| Students, staff, and faculty members celebrate 51风流 Day with a campus ice cream social outside Merrill House. (Photo by Adriana Brodyn 鈥08) |