Beast Escapes the Fire in Annual Dragon Day Festivities

This story was originally published on March 18.

The dragon lives on, as this year’s annual celebration of Dragon Day culminated in the burning of a symbolic nest, instead of the usual destruction of the first-year architects’ creation. Endowed with moving wings, claws and heads, this year’s dragon was instead able to escape the fire, finding refuge in Rand Hall instead.

In honor of the 108-year old tradition, the dragon journeyed across Central Campus on Friday, just as Spring Break began. Starting at Rand Hall, the dragon traveled up University Ave, down East Ave, and then made a right onto Campus Rd. As the fiery red dragon passed the Engineering Quad, the engineers unveiled their creation, a bright yellow phoenix. Finally, the dragon made its way to the Arts Quad.

Architects Unleash Wrath of the Beast

As the architecture students prepare to emerge from Rand Hall, possibly for the first time since January, they will be bringing with them a large unwieldy beast. Dragon Day, the historic day when first year architects parade a mystical creature of their creation around campus, will commence as most students prepare to depart for the break.
You may have seen the publicity around campus — silver eggs being handed out on Ho Plaza, mysterious semi-naked individuals running through your classes covered in green paint and a line of butts up against the Fish Bowl earlier this week. That’s right, this year’s crop of first year architects, body parts and all, have run wild with the recent and historic traditions associated with Dragon Day.

In The Line Of Fire

There was a time when having a huge camera (or two!) strapped around your neck got you access to pretty much anything. Unfortunately, the day of the consumer dSLR is upon us and it seems that everyone and everyone’s uncle has at least a Canon Rebel XTi. This is bad news for the photographers who actually NEED to get into the action to get a photo.

Architecture Students Celebrate Dragon Day

The smoke that rose up from the Arts Quad was visible to anyone whose eyes were turned to East Hill on March 14. As the remnants of a wire and paper-maché structure blackened the sky on a surprisingly warm afternoon, thousands of people cheered and chanted, played music and danced.
“Burn it down,” one yelled.
“Look at all that carbon monoxide,” another remarked.
This was the annual burning of the dragon — a 100-year old Cornell tradition upheld every year before Spring Break by first-year architecture students. Donning all black, they stood and watched the destruction of their creation, a project that they had spent many hours preparing.

Frosh Architects Parade for Annual Dragon Day Celebration

Today from 1 – 3 p.m., the first-year architecture students will unleash a dragon.
Frankenstein had his monster, Henry Higgins his Pygmalion. And in the darkest depths of their Rand Hall lair, the first year architects this week created a vicious, bloodthirsty beast that knows no mercy.
But today — today that beast will meet his fiery end.
With a terrible strength far beyond the ken of mortal man, the dragon will burst out of Rand Hall at 1 p.m., travel east on University Ave., before continuing on to East Ave., Campus Road and the South Central walkway through Ho Plaza before entering the Arts Quad between Uris and Olin libraries.