When prospective students come to campus for new-student orientation, they are asked to remove their socks and shoes and "dip in" to the cool fountain water.
Orientation leaders tell students that wading through the Cooley fountain - between the Modern Languages Building, Michigan League and the Burton Memorial Bell Tower - will bring them good luck for their years at the University.
"We had no idea what was going on," said Engineering sophomore Dina Ranieri. "It was meant to bring us into University tradition. It did, however, make everyone laugh and talk together."
The fountain crossing is only one of the many myths told to incoming students during orientation by orientation leaders.
There are several different views towards the myths that incoming freshmen are told upon arrival to the University.
"A lot of the myths ease the tension of entering a large university," said orientation leader Paolo Aquino. "It's a little bit of fun for the (group leaders) to poke at the naivete of incoming freshmen."
Although Aquino sees no harm in the myths told at orientation, other leaders disagreed.
"Some people feel that it is offensive," orientation leader Josh Burgess said. "In my past orientation experiences, some have taken it personally."
History Prof. Nicholas Steneck doubted the merit of several University myths.
"I do not see any reason to refrain from giving out information for the sake of livening up the tours, but only if the myth is obviously untrue," Steneck said. "People ought to be a bit more careful about offering information that is difficult to prove."
Regardless of the authenticity of the alleged myths, they generally create a more relaxed atmosphere for many incoming students' first University experiences.
"Orientation warmed me up to the University and I think that the tidbits that were offered by orientation leaders served their purpose, which was to make everyone less tense and more comfortable," said LSA senior Alison Summer.
"I remember my group leader telling us that the Dental School is built in the shape of a molar and the Music School is built in the shape of a musical key," she said. "I remember wondering whether or not it was true."
LSA senior Larkin Kinsella said the orientation traditions made the three days more comfortable for him.
"It was familiarizing," Kinsella said. "It acquainted me with the personality of the University. It made it less institutional."
Summer Orientation Student Program Administrator Randy Juip said the one-hour campus tour is filled with myths and stories told by orientation leaders, but the extent to which the myths are told varies according to each leader.
Juip, however, has an explanation for why the myths are told in the first place.
"We tell the myths to get them excited about the University, to get them to really think about what they are a part of," Juip said.
-- From an aerial view, the Dental School looks like a molar.
-- If you step on the 'M' in the Diag before your first blue book exam, you will flunk the exam. To counteract an accidental violation of the rule, you must step on the 'M' at midnight and run naked to the Natural Science Museum's pumas before the Burton Tower chimes 12 times.
-- The faces of the first six presidents of the University are carved into the gargoyles adorning the arch in the Law Quadrangle.
-- If a virgin walks past the pumas outside the Natural Science Museum at midnight, the statues will roar.
-- The bell towers on both North and Central Campus see eye-to-eye at the top.
-- The University president spins the Cube each morning to generate energy to run the University.
-- The Fleming Administration Building was built to be riot-proof.
-- If you kiss someone under the Engineering Arch at midnight, you are destined to marry that person.