Storytime with Corey The Most Iconic Cornell Tradition: Cheering Big Red Hockey in Lynah! The votes are in! Sports fandom beat out 31 other beloved activities, from Hot Truck to Wines to Libe Slope sunsets By Corey Ryan Earle ’07 After five weeks and nearly 6,000 votes cast by readers, we’ve narrowed a field of 32 Cornell traditions to one final winner. According to you, the most iconic Cornell tradition is … cheering for Big Red hockey at Lynah Rink! In the championship bout, our winner took home 58% of the votes over “Savoring a late-night snack at Louie’s Lunch (or Hot Truck).” Cornell hockey’s winning ways are perhaps one of the most consistent experiences for Cornellians over the last 60 years, with every decade since Lynah’s opening in 1957 experiencing at least a pair of men’s Ivy League titles and NCAA tournament appearances. Women’s ice hockey came to Lynah in the 1970s and dominated the first six years of Ivy League tournaments. In recent decades, the Big Red women have offered Cornellians a chance to cheer on some of the best players in country, including several Olympians and a half dozen players in the new Professional Women’s Hockey League. If there’s one clear takeaway from the bracket, it’s perhaps the unique way that college campuses evolve while also remaining a time capsule of alumni nostalgia. Can a PMP today ever taste as good as it did when you were 21 years old, standing in the cold on Stewart Avenue? If there’s one clear takeaway from the bracket, it’s perhaps the unique way that college campuses evolve while also remaining a time capsule of alumni nostalgia. We strived to select traditions that stretched across generations, and all of them spanned at least the last 50 years. But only about a quarter of the competitors are truly timeless, like snow, sunsets, and skipping class. A real highlight of this competition has been the comments and feedback on each week as alumni shared their own memories and favorite traditions. Truly timeless: A Slope sunset. (Ope Oladipo ’17) (Apologies to the many tray sliding enthusiasts who protested its omission from the bracket as a now-prohibited activity!) Some alumni recalled experiences that might be baffling to an undergraduate today, like Peter Smith ’66 remembering “being grateful for curfew so I could exit a bad date” and Gina Strauch ’80, BS ’85, suggesting “the grand course exchange” in Barton Hall. Other suggested traditions that have disappeared with the passage of time include “When skirts were required at meals, putting together the weirdest possible outfits” (Joyce Thompson ’70); “Camping out in Barton Hall for hockey tix” (Steve Coulombe ’74, MEng ’75); “Meeting at Jim’s Chapter House” (Richard Gibson ’68); and “Eating at the Pancake House” (Karen Wilk Rubin ’78). Diane Goldman Lawrence ’69 suggested that the bracket should have been divided into a varsity and JV, split at the Class of ’79, to ensure that traditions from the earlier era weren’t outnumbered and outvoted by younger classes. But despite fears of youth voter domination, seven of the eight traditions to make it to the final were as applicable in 1964 as they were in 2024—with the only exception being Slope Day. Read the comments on each week’s matchups: Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 And many of the more modern traditions evolved from earlier iterations. There was no Slope Day in the 1920s, but students celebrated Spring Day instead. There may not have been a Lynah Rink a century ago, but Cornellians cheered for the hockey team on Beebe Lake. Despite fears of youth voter domination, seven of the eight traditions to make it to the final were as applicable in 1964 as they were in 2024—with the only exception being Slope Day. To see all 32 original contenders, you can peruse the (now closed) poll in the original story, or download the completed bracket here: Corey’s March Madness Bracket 2024: Complete! Thanks to everyone who voted and commented—and I’ll see you at Lynah in the fall! What should next year’s March Madness bracket be? Comment with your suggestions below. (Top: Photo courtesy of Cornell Hockey Association.) Published April 22, 2024 What do you think of our winner—and what should be the focus of next year’s March Madness bracket? Comments Arthur Mintz, Class of 1971 23 Apr, 2024 Happy to be a (small) part of “the most iconic Cornell tradition”. Reply Alexandra Fairfield (Swiecicki), Class of 1978 23 Apr, 2024 Next time, consider dividing up nostalgic activities in the categories of Sports, Leisure time, and Academics/Study Time. Thanks Reply Amy Siegle, Class of 1983 24 Apr, 2024 Agreed! Four years at Cornell and I never saw a hockey game. Reply Mario Villanueva, Class of 1998 23 Apr, 2024 As expected, Lynah Rink won. That particular activity wasn’t in MY Cornell experience but I understand it was in many others’ Cornell experience. Reply Ralph Ullman, Class of 1970 23 Apr, 2024 So the most iconic Cornell tradition is watching other students do something. Anyone really proud of that? Reply Alison, Class of 1990 26 Apr, 2024 Next winter, go to a game! you will see that the students in the stands are most assuredly doing something! Reply Alan Goldman, Class of 1958 23 Apr, 2024 Describing our hockey success as winning at least a pair of Ivy League championships understates significantly our Ivy League success, I believe, even though it is literally correct. I attended one hockey game in Lynah’s first year and we lost to Princeton by about 14 goals. The teams have come a long way. Reply Don Paddock, Class of 1967 23 Apr, 2024 This event helped me re-unite with a classmate/roommate from my days at Cornell in the 1960’s. I haven’t had any contact with Ron Bulmer since we graduated together in 1967. It has been good to be back in touch. Reply Andrew Hahn 24 Apr, 2024 Eating pizza at the Nines or the Chariot Reply Pete Shier 30 Apr, 2024 As someone who was lucky enough to play hockey for Cornell, I can assure you that the players loved playing in front of the fans at Lynah and while some (yes, not all) students have great memories of the games, the players have great memories of the fans as well. Reply Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ Other stories You may like Campus & Beyond Look Back: How Two Cornellians Cracked the ‘Small World’ Problem Alumni Remembering Chuck Feeney ’56, Cornell’s ‘Third Founder’ Campus & Beyond Bridge Project Connects Student Engineers with ’80s Alumni