The rhythmic clapping eluded Lindsey Bower, even after 10 times through “I’m a Jayhawk.”

“I still don’t have it,” the freshman from Wichita said. “I tried.”

Lucky for Bower, she’ll have four years to practice.

Bower was one of about 4,000 Kansas University students — mostly freshmen and transfer students — who gathered Monday at Memorial Stadium for the annual Traditions Night, when decades-old rites of KU are passed to a new generation of Jayhawks.

“We’re talking about the KU traditions that will be your traditions,” James Carothers, an English professor, told the students. “These are things we’ve been doing for a long time. Sometimes we know why they started; sometimes we have no clue.”

As Thursday and the start of the fall semester approached, students learned what it means to be a Jayhawk.

Topics included the Rock Chalk chant, the alma mater and “waving the wheat,” a KU tradition after football touchdowns and when opposing players foul out in basketball.

Carothers also noted the traditions of intellectual openness, independence and academic excellence at KU.

The history of KU means something special for Elise Levy, a freshman from Overland Park. She’s a fifth-generation Jayhawk. Her great-great grandfather was David Robinson, one of the original three KU faculty members, and her great-great grandmother, Henrietta Beach Robinson, was a member of the KU class of 1870.

Kansas University's freshmen Mount Oread Scholars proceed up Campanile Hill just after sunrise in the seventh annual Walk Up the Hill. The walk Monday, from the football stadium to Spencer Research Library, was a symbolic start to the new school year. When the students graduate from KU, they will walk down the Hill at commencement.

Levy said she had learned about KU since she was a baby.

“I have my little Jayhawk cheerleading outfit,” she said. “It’s in the family. Everybody went to KU.”

James Vaglio, of Leawood, said he learned a lot about KU by attending Traditions Night.

“It’s good to be familiar with all the chants and clapping, for when I go to games,” he said. “And it’s good to know the history behind things. A lot of it I’d never heard of.”

Bower said the night made her feel connected to the university.

¢ KU traditions¢ 6News video: Students rush to fill dorms

“I feel part of KU and not just some little freshman,” she said.