Fun UMN Traditions

Exploring the U’s various legends and traditions

Karina Herrera-Cavazos

If you’ve ever attended a campus tour (or overheard one), I’m sure you’ve heard a campus ambassador describe the various traditions of the university. One of the most prominent ones that stuck out to me was the curse of the Tin Man sculpture (AKA “Platonic Figures”) outside of Keller and Lind Hall. The legend goes, as the ambassador would grimly tell you, that anybody who dared walk underneath the sculpture would not graduate in four years! Whether this is concerning is truly up to personal preference and life circumstances. However graduating in more than four years isn’t financially viable for a lot of students. As a result, I have avoided walking under this sculpture for three years now. And I might not be alone in this, as I haven’t seen a soul walk under it. Perhaps the legend still haunts today’s undergrads…

Another prominent tradition of the University is the ever mysterious Shoe Tree. The tree can be seen on the bridge to West Bank, and currently holds more than a hundred shoes. The main consensus on the tree’s purpose is to throw shoes on its branches when students graduate. However, no one is quite sure when this tradition started. According to an article by the MN Daily, the shoe tree seemed to have been around since the nineties, and even back then students weren’t sure of its origin. Crazy theories abound to fill in this gap: aliens abduct students but forget their shoes, or a bridge troll hangs students by their shoe laces. 

Despite their meaning or intended purpose, these traditions and landmarks within the university enables students to have a sense of a shared community. It can be quite comforting to know that, on such a large campus, someone else has also avoided walking under the Tin Man sculpture and pondered about the purpose of the elusive Shoe Tree.