Throughout the Ivy League and other prestigious New England colleges, the arrival of spring is celebrated in a similar way to the College's annual Green Key Weekend.
Most colleges and universities around the country and all of the Ivy League schools, with the exception of Harvard University, host some kind of spring celebration usually designed to act as a diversion from impending finals.
Princeton University features several events during the Spring which help to bolster school spirit.Communiversity Day, P-Parties, and Spring Fling are among their most recent spring parties.
Communiversity Day, which was held on Earth Day, is a day for town residents and students.Stores along the college's main street closed in order to celebrate the events.Vendors and booths selling odds-and-ends (mostly art) sponsored the day, according to Colette Curran, a sophmore.
The P-Party headlined the band Toad the Wet Sprocket.
Spring Fling also featured area bands including Naildriver, Too much Joy, and Dead Serious.The event was sponsored by the Undergraduate Student Government.
Although many officials at other schools noted the involvement of drinking and Greek events during their own respective spring festivities, many of the area's collegiate spring weekends have championed activist issues such as AIDS and environmental causes.
Columbia's annual spring festival is a huge event for its students. "Columbiafest" is a five day event that takes place a week prior to reading period.
The festival changes from year-to-year, but there is always a comedian, a lecturer and a band brought to the University. In the past, Columbiafest has featured a semi-formal, Wacky Olympics, with events such as jello wrestling, a speech by renowned sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer and a concert by the Ramones.
Columbiafest was canceled and is being re-evaluated by the Student Activities Office.However, this is what was held in previous years.
Brown University's Spring Weekend began its festivities on Thursday evening? and closed with a concert headlined by such well-known acts as Digable Planets, Morphine, and Midnight Cowboy.
According to Brown's Director of Student Activities David Inman, the weekend began by featuring charitable events including a tricycle race, casino night, and the college's Annual Bizarre Bazaar sponsored by several of the college's organizations.
Other events highlighted included a "Battle of the Bands" on the campus and concerts by several a cappella groups.
The Weekend also featured a carnival on Saturday which showcased novelty acts like a virtual reality booth and karoake.
Yale University's spring event, which has recently been scaled down from three days to one, was sponsored by the Yale College Council and the Yale Student Fair Coalition.
The spring event, which was held in conjunction with Earth Day, was designed to promote "consciousness-raising about the environment," according to Craig Nelson, a sophomore at the University and chair of Yale's Student Activities Committee.
The carnival included free food, a Velcro obstacle course and a concert headlined by They Might Be Giants for members of the Yale community and New Haven, Conn. residents.
The University of Pennsylvania also holds its annual two-day Spring Fling in Philadelphia. The event includes concerts by campus bands on two different stages in the quads, and vendors selling refreshment to the students.
The theme for this year's festival was "Fie, Fi, Foe, Fling," and the celebration included a carnival with a ferris wheel and other rides, a bungee bounce, and four psychics.
The event culminated which a concert featuring The Roots, Sonic Youth, The Samples, and George Clinton and his P-Funk All-Star Band.
According to Kim Allen, Penn's assistant director of student activities, the event was widely attended.
Cornell's Spring Day is very heavily alcohol related, according to Jonathan Matz, a sophomore at the University.
The event is also called Slope Day because students traditionally gather together to drinking beer on Libe Slope. This event is held on the last day of classes.
The University pays for bands that play throughout the day and provides free refreshments for students.
Amherst College's Spring Weekend is a three day event that featured a concert by Sonic Youth this spring.
According to Amherst's Senior Class President Michelle Tessier, the weekend featured such interesting venues as an on-campus dance party and several sporting events.
