Freshman beanie worn by Jacob Alschuler, class of '23. The beanie is in one of Alschuler's scrapbooks, donated by his daughter Rosalie Alschuler Goldstein. Beginning in 1901, freshmen were required to wear their beanie, or cap, from Varsity Welcome (the first Friday of fall semester) through Thanksgiving and from Easter until Varsity (Cap) Night in late spring. Freshmen were supposed to touch the red button on top when speaking to upperclassmen, and penalities for not doing so ranged from singing university songs to being thrown in the lake. The hazing of freshmen increasing got out of hand, and in 1923 the student court finally ruled that freshmen could not be required to wear any specific article of clothing. Beanies today are extremely rare, largely because "cap night" included throwing the beanies into a bonfire on the lower campus to signify the end of the freshman year.