From the Archives – Dink Hats

Montclair State University has a history filled with tradition. One that did not last the test of time was freshman hazing. Luckily, freshman hazing at Montclair was historically more light-hearted and less dangerous than the infamous hazing incidents in the 1970s and 1980s. Up until the early 1970s, Montclair freshmen were required to spend a week wearing beanie hats called “dinks” along with placards with their names and hometowns.

“Due to the prevalence of hazing in New Jersey, in 1980 the state became one of the first to implement an anti-hazing law.” [www.bronzinolaw.com].

Janet Millenthal, Class of 1946 and Charlotte Koob, Class of 1948 described their freshman hazing experiences in an essay they wrote called, “Tradition at Montclair State Teachers College.”

“The freshman first comes in contact with the traditional hazing. One week is set aside, during which upper classmen are in their glory making the newcomers feel green and insignificant. During this period, freshmen are not allowed to enter the Administration Building through the main door, or permitted to walk on the grass. They are ordered to address upper classmen as Mr. and Miss. At noon, each day, the freshmen gather at the sun dial or “Rat’s Court,” as it is called, and are put through a series of ridiculous antics. Each one is required to wear a huge placard with his name and to dress in any other outlandish fashion which the upper classmen desire.”

Hazing and Dink Hats at Montclair ended in the early-1970’s into the abyss.