Watch your step! Campus curses abound

[snopes]

You might think your chances of graduating are related to how much you study, or that with responsible behavior you’ll have a safe and stable love life. But according to a number of Brown myths and legends that have endured over the years, your fate might be sealed by a careless misstep — literally.

http://www.browndailyherald.com/watc...ound-1.1868199

[Photo Bob]

Moynihan said nobody takes the myth seriously, but many of the band members do take precaution when they walk through, especially during big events.

Uhmmmm. Some people take it seriously enough to take precautions. Or are we to assume that band members do not count as people?

[Mr. Furious]

It sounds more like a tradition than a genuine superstition, kind of like how many baseball players will absolutely not step on foul lines when jogging onto and off the field. It's talked about as a superstition, but I'd suspect that if the vast majority of people who engage in the act were asked, and were honest, they would not expect negative consequences.

[songbird1329]

the band tradition at Brown -- they carry their instruments upside down to avoid the "curse".

[katdixo]

At Bryn Mawr College, there is a stairway called the Senior Steps. The tradition is that if you walk on it before your senior year, it lessens your chances of graduating. I didn't really believe that I would not graduate if I walked on the steps, but nonetheless I stayed off them because I enjoy traditions. I think that's what the article means when it says that no one takes it seriously even though they do follow the tradition.