Traditions aren’t invented out of thin air.

In an effort to revitalize Homecoming Week, ASUU organizers have added a new tradition: True Crimson. Throughout the week, students are supposed to kiss at 11:47 p.m. to demonstrate their school spirit.

And the idea was ripped off from Utah State and various high schools from across the Wasatch front.

Have we really come so far that the only way we have to demonstrate the uniqueness of the U is to steal the time-honored traditions of other institutions?

Homecoming is a lackluster event at the U for a plethora of reasons. It caters almost exclusively to traditional college students. It is under-funded in comparison with events like Redfest and The Grand Kerfuffle. It isn’t advertised well, and in fact, it’s a safe assumption that most students were unaware that Homecoming Week was upon them.

But the way to fix these problems isn’t to create some new tradition that already has most students rolling their eyes over the childishness of it.

The U needs to revitalize its own traditions-not steal other people’s.

Students like to think that homecoming is about them. It’s not. It’s about people who ceased to be students quite some time ago.

The basic goal of homecoming is to inspire alumni from far and wide to come “home” to their alma mater-to reminisce, to cheer on their football team, to hopefully make a commitment to some hefty donation.

What about “True Crimson” are our alumni going to be able to reminisce about?

Furthermore, will current students really return to the U someday and look back fondly on the time they kissed someone at 11:47?

There’s no interesting story behind the time 11:47-it’s just because event organizers wanted to be quirky and pick an arbitrary time.

Grooms carry brides over thresholds. Girls ask boys to their high school Sadie Hawkins dances. Traditions are things that are handed down over time. They bring good luck or inspire a sense of pride or nostalgia. Sometimes traditions are exasperating, but they always have some core meaning that takes an essentially stupid act and elevates it to something special, or at least endearing.

Rather than commandeering the idiosyncrasies of other schools, student leaders should revive traditions that actually have roots at the U. If they have trouble figuring out what they were, maybe they should go find some alumni and ask them.