We are our traditions. Nothing demonstrates the personality of Knox quite like its longstanding—and occasionally quirky—campus traditions.

Pumphandle offers new and returning students a chance to kick off the school year with new friendships. On the afternoon before the first day of classes, students, faculty and staff—some of them in wacky costumes—form a long line on the lawn in front of Old Main. Then each person takes a turn walking down the line and shaking everyone else's hand—pumping the handle, as it were.

The Honor Code has been a fixture of the Knox educational experience ever since the students established it in 1951 and contributes to the strong sense of ownership students feel they have over their education.

The Bronze Turkey is the trophy awarded to the winner of the Knox-Monmouth football game, the first of which was played in 1888. Over the course of more than 100 years, the rivalry has grown quite heated, and the Bronze Turkey has occasionally been…appropriated by means other than winning the football game. As a result, each year's winner usually displays a copy of the Turkey and keeps the original in an undisclosed location.

Prairie Burns at the College's Green Oaks Biological Field Station have become something of a rite of passage for Knox's ecology and biology students. The 700-acre biological research area supports the second-oldest tall-grass prairie restoration in North America. The burns replicate nature's way of renewing growth and maintaining biodiversity in Illinois's classic prairie habitats.

Flunk Day is a campus-wide spring surprise party. The party's date, and even the identities of its organizers, is kept secret until the morning when the entire campus is awakened by whistles. All classes are cancelled—and exam dates and paper deadlines postponed—for a day of music, games, food and fun.

The ringing of the Old Main bell is another Knox tradition. Sitting atop Old Main, a huge bronze bell rings at the beginning and end of each class, as well as the beginning and end of each school year.

Traying in the Bowl is a rite of winter at Knox. The steep 16 foot berms that surround the Knox Bowl make great sledding hills when it snows, and the trays from the cafeteria make great sleds. If the snow is packed just right, you can slide down one side of the bowl and make it most of the way to the other side.