Genetic Memory

Undergraduate organizations are remarkable phenomena, in that they have no short-term memory but remarkable long-term memory. How is this possible?

Upperclassmen. They take on the role of teacher. They teach the new members. The new members become upperclassmen. These upperclassmen do upon their new members as was done upon them.

This is why quirky traditions (like the Band's Bus Driver Song) live on for decades, yet no current member remembers what happened on Black Tuesday in 1999.

This "circle of undergraduate life" is the foundation for any good organization, and the very basis for that institutional memory that is so important.

How geeky was that?