UGA's Historical Tradition of Rat Caps
The rat cap tradition in UGA persisted for decades in the early 1900’s.It is a part of UGA's culture that has since died out. These red rat caps were given to all of the freshman who attended the university. They were given to them during their orientation. Freshman were required, at all times, to wear this hat. If an upperclassman were to have found a freshman without his rat cap, the upperclassman would have the "right" to shave the freshman's head. The rat caps were only allowed to come off if the UGA football team beat Georgia Tech in the upcoming season. If they lost against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, then UGA freshmen, unfortunately, had to keep wearing their hats for the remainder of the year. These caps were believed to symbolize the status of the freshmen. They served as a constant reminder to first year students that they are the lowest in rank when compared to the sophomores, juniors, and seniors. The rat cap tradition was abandoned in the late 1930's. The reason of why this tradition was abandoned is unknown. Students likely believe that the reason why the rat cap tradition is abandoned is because the shaving of the heads falls under bullying, which the university cannot condone. The rat caps could have still been a tradition without the addition of the shaving of the heads. Other southern universities similar to the University of Georgia such as Georgia Tech and Auburn University still carry out this tradition to this day.
Citations
Hunt-Hurst, Patricia, and José Blanco F. “Red Caps, Rat Caps: Status, Spirit, and Traditions of College Dress at the University of Georgia.” The Georgia Historical Quarterly, vol. 97, no. 4, 2013, pp. 447–475. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/24636329.
“A Selection of Items from the College of Family and Consumer Sciences’ Historic Clothing and Textiles Collection to Celebrate UGA’S 225th Anniversary.” University of Georgia, Apr. 2010.