Most days, you can find Clemson’s campus adorned in various shades of orange and purple. Fridays, however, hold a slightly different narrative. At the end of each week, Clemson has “Solid Orange Friday.” A longstanding tradition that invokes school spirit and brings the student body together, Solid Orange Friday encourages students and staff to wear the schools most recognizable color, flooding the campus with Clemson attire. If you don’t want to participate, you may want to rethink that. If you’re caught without school spirit, the Solid Orange Friday Police may give you a citation!
This tradition calls for students, staff and faculty members to don an orange Clemson shirt throughout the day. You are also encouraged to wear orange pants, socks, jackets or even shoes! For some of our most spirited students, Friday’s attire consists of the one color. For others, a simple orange hat or t-shirt expressing their area of study may do. The exact start of this tradition is unclear, but it does date back more than 15 years ago. According to Jason Allen, director of WAVS and lifelong Clemson fan, Solid Orange was supported by Clemson’s athletic director in 2002. Allen mentions that Terry Don Phillips, who held the position of athletic director from 2002 to 2012, advocated for Solid Orange during his time at Clemson. Therefore, the tradition can be traced back to, at the very least, the early 2000s. Although the origin of Clemson’s valued tradition is vague, it continues to be a big part of Clemson’s culture.
The University’s website perfectly captures exactly what this tradition is about. On a page dedicated to Solid Orange, Clemson’s website states that “It’s thinking and acting like a winner, knowing that everything we do reflects on every other Tiger. It’s just part of what makes Clemson uniquely Clemson.” Solid Orange Friday unites fans of the University by simply asking you to wear orange. Through this, students and staff are motivated to make good choices and support one another, as the school recognizes that, under Clemson’s name and legacy, our choices affect each other. Solid Orange Friday is a wholesome tradition that you can easily be apart of, and most of campus will encourage your participation.
Although most Fridays result in a sea of orange, there are some people who either forgot about our beloved tradition, or decide not to participate. In the past few weeks, if you found yourself walking down Library Bridge sans orange, you might have been stopped by the police. The Solid Orange Friday Police. A few students with a lot of school spirit, led by Tiger Band Drum Major Trey Lockett, took it upon themselves to monitor the participation and continuation of the well-established tradition. These students, all in their Solid Orange attire, stood on Library Bridge with whistles and citations for those lacking spirit. If you received one, you were reminded that you need to wear orange on the following Friday. The citations also included a coupon for 10% off a Solid Orange shirt at TigerTown Graphics to make the coming Friday a bit easier. You never know when the Solid Orange Friday Police will frequent campus again, so it is best to “think and act like a winner” in orange, unless you want a citation!
Visit http://www.clemson.edu/solid-orange/ for some Solid Orange wallpaper!
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