“It makes people realize how lucky we are to have a warm, supportive, encouraging environment,” Dunster HoCo Co-chair Alissa N. Changala ’13 says of Housing Day traditions.

On the night of Housing Day, most Houses hold a dinner where freshmen can explore their new dining hall and a reception where they will be able to meet the House Masters.

During Cabot’s Housing Day dinner, House Master Rakesh Khurana says he likes to tell freshmen about the House’s storied past.

“We want to give people a sense of its rich history,” he says. “It is an invitation for people to join a community that will support their academic development, their connections with each other, and intense caring for their well-being.”

Many Houses create official welcome packets and goody bags for freshmen.

Each year, new Cabotians receive a an item that symbolizes the House and its fish mascot, something Khurana calls a “totem.”

In the past, Khurana says students have received Cabot key chains and ID card holders with the Cabot logo, along with goody bags filled with Swedish Fish.

“There is an intense amount of Cabot and Quad love,” he adds.

THE TWELVE DAYS OF HOUSING DAY

While House Masters have become increasingly involved in Housing Day activities, student anticipation of the event has stretched the holiday spirit of the event to the weeks and days before the last Thursday before spring break.

Many attribute the advent of inter-House spirit competitions to Mather’s 2008 email to the freshmen class with an attached video “Mather House: The Movie.” Over the past four years, this first video has sparked Houses across campus to produce YouTube videos touting the advantages of their respective homes.

In the past month, students have released a variety of videos: music videos including Mather’s “Call Me Mather,” movie spoofs such as Quincy’s  “Q-Men: Freshman Class,” and plays on internet memes like Pfoho’s “Sh*t River People Say.” Mather leads the Houses in this year’s battle of the videos, with 6,304 views on YouTube as of Wednesday at 10:30 p.m. Pfoho’s video comes in second with 5,256 views, followed by Quincy’s take on X-Men, which had 4,423.

And the gorillas, penguins, and polar bears have been spotted beyond the small screen, as students—and professors—clad in mascot suits have dropped in on large lecture classes this week.

On Monday, the Cabot House fish surprised students with a visit to Economics 10, and Mather’s Gorilla was spotted in Societies of the World 14: “The British Empire.”On Wednesday, Pforzheimer House Master Nicholas A. Christakis delivered his lecture for Sociology 190: “Life and Death in the U.S.: Medicine and Disease in Social Context” in a polar bear suit.

However, administrators say that some student celebrations—especially the Housing Day Eve River Run—take things too far.