Stephen P. Shoemaker, who is the head teaching fellow for Religion 1513, “A History of Harvard and Its Presidents,” also said that Harvard resounds with centuries of tradition.

“We’ve got to giggle at [BC] because we have more traditions than we know what to do with here,” he said. “But I can see why there would be a desire to have certain rituals or ongoing patterns at BC.”

Shoemaker added that from an outside perspective, Harvard’s traditions can appear strange as well.

“It was just as easy to make fun of Harvard for some of its ‘cheesy’ rituals, such as rubbing John Harvard’s foot for good luck,” he said. “This in particular is such a peculiar ritual, and one that strikes me as a tourist practice that was somewhat co-opted by the Harvard community.”

But these traditions are an integral part of the Harvard experience, said Sprague later on in an e-mail.

“The best traditions such as rubbing a statue’s foot for good luck or a naked run around the yard on a cold midnight in January certainly were not the ideas of a ‘committee,’” she wrote.

Shoemaker also said he wasn’t sure a task force was the best way to implement new customs.

“It seems a little contrived to develop a committee to do this, but I guess I could see the point. But I’ve never heard of this before,” he said.

—Staff writer Elena P. Sorokin can be reached at sorokin@fas.harvard.edu.