This weekend the temperature climbed above freezing and in true Colgate fashion, we all took our tops off. After seven months of winter, we really can’t be blamed. There is a special kind of elation dedicated to people who live in the Snow Belt and for the first time in months feel that strange tingle on their skin.

I’ve always loved how Colgate loves good weather. Thiry-five degrees is a good enough reason to bring out the pong table and play on the front lawn; 40 and we’re sun bathing; 50 – 60 we’re half naked and drunk by 11. Campus brightens and fills and it begins to feel much more like camp than any sort of academic institution.

And during this time, among these rays, we usher in crowds and crowds of prospective students to briefly share with them our utopia. Do you like Frisbee on the quad? Do you have a lax pinnie that you’ve been dying to wear? Then come to Colgate. We have class outside all the time!

When the weather hit the high 70s this weekend, Frank Dining hall put up a sign that said no shoes, no shirt, no entry. Fraterday and other sun-fun daytime activities often lead to marauding about without regard for the basics learned in Sociology 101. But this is Colgate, our bubble to be naked in, and if we want a panini or Edy’s ice cream, but we don’t want to have to deal with the nuisance of a collar, sleeves or any boundaries on our toes, then I think we should have that right. Freely stamp about, it’s warm out!

Visitors don’t quite understand: this is our exclusive minority. No group values blue skies like we do. We love it more than free t-shirts at a women’s athletic event or pizza samples at the Coop. We love good weather like we love pastel shorts and Frye boots. Because we know you haven’t lived ‘til you’ve played dizzy-bat after breakfast, ‘til you’ve raced down a slip and slide and exfoliated in a mud pile. These are the days we truly love Colgate.

And when Fabolous comes in three weeks to spell songs to us (F-A-B-O-L-O-U-S), you know that we’ll be ready before and after the sun. Broad Street becomes Broadway and for one glorious weekend we can celebrate the arrival of summer. The Sioux people of the Middle Plains perform a religious sun dance in worship of their God. The Sioux people would love Spring Party Weekend.

The first and last few weeks at Colgate are gorgeous, a reminder of why we were voted most beautiful campus in the US – also a reminder of why we are among the “most fit” in the country. Every year after finals and grad we leave as happy campers, sleepover-party campers but campers nonetheless. So enjoy this time, because it comes just as quickly as it goes and this paradise, cast of extras on a classic American College experience, is everything we’ve waited for all year long.