by Caroline Czarra
A current first-year at Sweet Briar College observed one morning that the upperclasswomen did not seem to like the first years very much. She was sitting at a table in Prothro Dining Room with two upperclasswomen when they were approached by two other first-years. The first-years had questions for the upperclasswomen, which they seemed happy to answer, but one question upset them so much that they did not bother to even answer it: “Where do you get the hats? I haven’t seen them on sale at the bookshop.”
The hats to which the first years were referring are called “tap hats,” a form of spirit wear for tap clubs at Sweet Briar College. Tap clubs have been a tradition at the college since its inception. The current members “tap” new members into one or more of the eleven existing clubs every fall semester. The upperclasswomen’s reaction to the question about their tap hats certainly raises an interesting question: if tap clubs are a tradition meant for all students, why would upperclasswomen turn their noses up at a first-year inquiring about them?
The reason could be that upperclasswomen are constrained by tradition, which forbids first-year students from learning about tap clubs until they have more seniority. This reason seems valid on the surface, but with deeper reflection, it makes no sense. The upperclasswomen wear their tap hats with pride (and why would they not?), but in a way, they are encouraging questions about them. And when asked about their tap hats, the upperclasswomen are forced into silence. So if the upperclasswomen had hoped to keep the tap clubs a secret from the first-years by wearing their hats and becoming angered when asked about them, they had not thought their plan all the way through.
This reason to keep tap clubs from the first-years seems petty. True, if they are kept secret, then the first-years will feel elitist when they are tapped into a club (which also increases the value of being tapped), but by the same token, how will a first-year know a tap club is interested in her? All the clubs have a certain characteristic or set of characteristics that they look for in a prospective member. That being said, the prospective member cannot continue executing that characteristic or set of characteristics if she does not know what they are.
Sweet Briar College is known for their small student body—322 women—and their close-knit-community feel. In a way, the college is like a sorority all on its own. The students have each other’s backs at the end of the day, and this is something on which Sweet Briar College prides itself. That being said, the secrecy around tap clubs is hurting that close-knit-community feel. While true, the students will have each other’s backs at the end of the day regardless, there will always be that wedge in the relationship: the need to keep tap clubs a secret.
A solution: the secretive and elitist aura around the tap clubs is necessary to keep the value of being a member of the tap club. However, complete secrecy is not the answer (you will have situations like the one aforementioned, where the upperclasswomen rudely did not answer the question about their tap hats). So, if the clubs were advertised a bit more—identifying what the tap clubs look for in a prospective member and what the benefits are for being a part of the club—then the amount of questions first-years will ask the upperclasswomen will go down significantly and the relationship between the students at Sweet Briar College will improve immensely.
December 6, 2018 at 8:08 pm
yikes
December 7, 2018 at 7:02 am
I graduated class of 2018, so I know the Sweet Briar you are at. Every first year is encouraged to attend Quad Rocks in the fall to ask these sorts of questions. That’s the appropriate environment. Also, Tap Clubs aren’t a secret at all. They’re just not supposed to be talked about. I learned about them as a perspective student (you kind of need to explain the weird hats to potential students and why it’s actually Not That Weird). I did not talk about them with upperclasswomen because my class was told very clearly that it’s a secretive process.
I’ve read that the author is in Sweet Tones, one of the Tap Clubs. Sweet Tones is a weird middle-ground Tap club, one you audition for, and I can promise you that the Sweet Tones you are a member of now is nowhere near the same Sweet Tones I was a member of last year and throughout my time at SBC, as the club lost about half of its members after last year. The qualifications each club looks for is published on the SBC website if it intrigues you that much. I’d encourage redirection of students’ questions to the SBC website as many can be answered there.
December 8, 2018 at 3:36 am
Yikes! As a QV (real tap club) and a Sweet Tone (try out a cappella singing group) I am a bit surprised reading about all these upper & lower “classwomen” not talking to each other or being offended or scared to ask a question. Ridiculous. The solution is for the administration to get back to placing upperclass students in the dorm rooms next door to the Freshman, as was the tradition when I was there, thus creating lovely and traditional inclusiveness and MENTORS. The Sweet Briar Community is famous for its mentors, networking, alumnae and life long friends and college support. Sweet Briar is such a small, unique college, there is no room for tension of any kind anywhere or at anytime. Holla, Holla! Vivre la SBC!
December 10, 2018 at 5:26 pm
They weren’t secret when I was there in the ’70’s.
December 12, 2018 at 3:23 am
Honestly the goal was never to keep the clubs secret from freshman or anyone really. The clubs are known and the characteristics are broadly defined but you hit the nail on the head when you mentioned secrets make them valuable. If you knew everything about a traditional exclusive club, would you want to be in it nearly as much? No. That was part of the fun.
I was Vice President of Falls on Nose, a QV greenperson and 2016er so I was one of the last classes to graduate from SBC who remembers student life before the threat of closing. I was never in the core four and still tied this day dont know much about them beyond what green people are allowed to know. And you know what? That’s okay and it’s so cool that members of your tap club share a unique experience with you that no one else outside of that club could ever know about. Its bonding and (usually) meant to bring people closer together.
I’m hoping that with all the changes at SBC lately (not all good in my opinion), tap clubs remain a tradition and uphold their traditional integrity. This is one of the few things i can still relate to at SBC despite only having graduated recently.
December 12, 2018 at 10:35 pm
I was tapped as part of two different tap clubs, and the only club that was overly secretive was QV and that was only really during our sophomore year. I can remember on multiple occasions, sitting with prospectives or underclassmen and explaining my hat, why it was both important and why it was respected, and then encouraging them to get involved with the rest of the community. We tend to forget, but the tap clubs are supposed to function as both recognition of someones devotion to an aspect of the campus community and a signal for interested underclassmen to approach and find out more. Questions should always be encouraged, but that doesn’t mean that we have to give away our secrets, just remind them that some knowledge is not going to be available to everyone. Same as within any society anywhere.