For all of the emphasis placed on the honor code here at the University, one might guess we would be less prone to stealing the traditions and trademarks of other schools.
The Sea of Orange, implemented by Al Groh after he was hired as head coach in 2000, is one notable example. The practice is reminiscent of the famous orange crowds at Virginia Tech, Clemson University and the University of Tennessee, and formally-dressed purists argue for a return to ties and pearls.
Gameday attire isn't the only less-than-original tradition at the University. Looking at the history of Virginia sports traditions catalogued on the Virginia athletic department's Web site, one could argue that the University should be diagnosed with kleptomania.
Unique traditions are a source of pride and unity. But as Director of Athletics Craig Littlepage pointed out, what really matters is the fostering of community and spirit and creation of a connection to the past, regardless of whether the tradition has roots in other institutions.
"Traces of all old traditions can be found ages ago in some other form or fashion," Littlepage said.
The University can trace its affinity for blue and orange back more than 100 years, a tradition that has remained constant while others have come and gone. Deciding in 1888 that the official colors of red and gray were far too bland for the field, a mass meeting was held to pick something more noticeable. Football player Allen Potts showed up wearing an Oxford University orange and blue scarf that was promptly pulled off and used as inspiration.
Before long, the University was borrowing traditions left and right. The University athletics Web site raises doubts as to whether the term "Wahoowa" is original. It may have been ripped off from Dartmouth College, whose mascot was an Indian.
If not from Dartmouth, though, a legend runs that the term may have been robbed from a song titled, "Where'er You Are, There Shall My Love Be," sung by Natalie Floyd Otley at Charlottesville's Levy Opera House in 1893. Supposedly, Otley warbled the first three words so inaudibly that the crowd heard "Wahoowa" instead of the real lyrics. And of course, the tune wasn't written by a Cavalier either, as it is clearly "Auld Lang Syne."
Though some University traditions were borrowed from other schools, others are uniquely Virginian.
The first mascot of the University was a live dog named Beta (named for Beta Theta Pi) that attended class at the University in the 1920s and 30s, appeared in Look magazine and found his way back home after being left behind at a football game in Georgia.
After Beta was hit by a car, the tradition of dog mascots continued with his successor, Seal, and ended with his death in 1953. Approximately 1,500 people came out to Seal's funeral at the University Cemetery, where he was buried next to Beta.
So out went the canines and in came the Cavalier. The first Cavalier on horseback debuted in 1947 in a football game against Harvard. It wasn't until after decades of sporadic appearances that he became the official mascot in 1984, in the form of CavMan, the pride and joy of every football game. In the eyes of some fans, this caped, foam-headed hero is more of a draw than the game itself.
First-year Engineering student Nikhil Panda said that many students arrive before kick-off to watch CavMan fight with the opposing team's mascot in the Adventures of CavMan.
"Even without the games, CavMan would probably still be doing something," Panda said, adding that he could envision him hosting his own TV show. "I'd like to watch an hour of CavMan."
Another modern tradition is the phrase "Wahoos" -- but how many Wahoos actually know what it means?
"It sounds like a jest, kind of like something that you would say about a stupid person," first-year Engineering student John Buttram said.
The real story is that Virginia baseball players were dubbed Wahoos by Washington and Lee fans in the 1890s as a mysterious insult. By the 1940s, the University had ignored the insult and embraced the nickname.
The University has since embraced a number of other unique traditions. According to second-year College student Tian Zeng, a transfer student from Virginia Tech, the University's game-day atmosphere showcases the University's character.
"At Tech, there's no tradition where you sing after each touchdown or yell 'first down,'" he said. "There is a real sense of bonding among students [at the University.] School spirit is strong."
Zeng added, however, some of his Virginia Tech classmates criticized what they saw as imitations of Tech traditions.
"I heard that U.Va. wanted to use 'Enter the Sandman,'" Zeng said, referring to a Metallica song that plays at the beginning of football games at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg. "I also heard that, years ago, U.Va. tried to implement color effects" like Tech's signature Maroon and Orange Effect.
The University may have adopted many of its time-honored traditions from other institutions, but they have become unique in their own right.
"Traditions evolve over time, and how fans attend and what they wear has evolved over time," Littlepage said.
So feel free to wear Oxford orange and blue, sing along to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne" and give a yell for dear old U.Va.
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