The rollout dilemma

There’s pounding on my door at 7:00 a.m.

It’s Sunday, Oct. 6 — the end of the second week of my freshman year.

The pounding does not stop. In fact, it simply intensifies.

Half-dazed, I slide out of my too-tall dorm bed and open the door, unsure of what emergency is happening. Someone must have started a fire in the questionable dorm kitchen, or perhaps the bathroom is overflowing down the hall and we need to evacuate…

“CONGRATULATIONS SHARIS. WELCOME TO SWINGTIME!”

My half-awake brain takes a second to register what is going on. There are five people in aggressively red sweatshirts blasting music and cheering.

Then it hits me — I got in.

Rollouts are a quintessential part of the Stanford experience. While no one knows exactly when rollouts started at Stanford, it’s a tradition that multiple generations of students have passed down. What better way to bond than to meet everyone for the first time, all while being disheveled and awake before the sun has risen? And, the subsequent delirious breakfast is a true initiation into whatever club or team you’ve been accepted to.

But the thing is, my rollout was the beginning of many more.

–

It’s week three, and I’m waking up again to someone in my hall being rolled out. The first few times, I’d jolt up in bed terrified before groggily smiling, because I knew that someone would be able to experience the same joy I did. However, it didn’t stop there. 

Week four: another flurry of rollouts, then week five and week six. 

By now, the excitement starts to wear thin. It’s the start of midterms, and there is an inescapable herd of thirty-five students storming their way through Crothers Hall at 7 a.m. Their obnoxious energy is the one thing standing between me and my much-needed sleep. I am over it. Irritated, I grab my phone and start searching for earplugs on Amazon.

I’m not the only one who has been fed up. Steven Diaz ’26, a Crothers RA, is a firm rollout hater. Living in a freshman dorm, he is perpetually awakened by rollouts, contributing to his growing hatred for them.

He was rolled out as a freshman, which began his negative perception of them. “It wasn’t hype enough,” Diaz recalls. “We just woke up and started walking around, two things I hate the most: cardio and waking up.”

Now an upperclassman, Diaz considers rollouts to be Stanford’s form of hazing. One of the University’s hazing definitions is “[an activity that] happens regardless of an individual’s willingness to participate,” also listing that “causing excessive… sleep deprivation or excessive fatigue” is an example of hazing. Though most clubs ask members if they are okay with being rolled out during applications, most freshmen have intense FOMO and feel pressured to participate to experience the Stanford tradition. Additionally, the combination of several roll-outs over time can cause students in freshman dorms excessive fatigue. Sleep, in college, is a precious commodity, and rollouts are a significant factor in reducing the amount of sleep students are getting during fall quarter. However, Diaz said that since rollouts have been packaged up nicely and stamped with the label of “longstanding tradition,” the practice has been allowed to persist despite the University’s anti-hazing policy.

Diaz also argued that rollouts are disrespectful to other residents within a dorm. Although quiet hours in dorms do end at seven in the morning, the majority of dorm residents continue to keep their voices down and avoid making excessive noise until later in the day. There’s a common understanding within these halls that most residents are not waking up until several hours later. Though rollouts do occur after quiet hours end, they fail to acknowledge the unspoken rules of respect within a dorm.

Alaina Zhang ’27 is in Swingtime and was rolled out her freshman year and also rolled out new members this fall.

“I feel like it’s a mutual thing,” she states regarding how rollouts affect the dynamic within dorms. She believes that at some point or another, each resident will be making irritating noise at an inconvenient time whether that be getting rolled out or having friends over late at night. Eventually, that balances out, and the dynamic within a dorm stays positive.

But are rollouts getting excessive?

More and more clubs are adopting the tradition of rollouts, regardless of if they are a no-cut club. Members of my hall have been rolled out two or three times each this quarter, causing the uniqueness and novelty to fade. Now, rollouts are beginning to feel like more of an obligation that clubs need to fulfill to capture their new members’ attention and persuade them to become a more active member. 

Personally, I agree with the sentiment that overexposure to rollouts gradually decreases the excitement around them. While clubs believe that rollouts instantly emulate a sense of belonging, perhaps that is simply the shock of the situation speaking. No one quite knows how to act when strangers appear at your door and drag you across campus. Instead of preying on this shock, focusing on intentional personal interactions could be much more effective at cultivating deep personal relationships within a club. 

I cannot deny that my rollout was a great success and precedent for how enveloped in the community of Swingtime I now am several weeks later. Looking at the “Welcome to Swingtime” plastered across my dorm door still brings a smile to my face as I look back fondly on this core experience of my freshman fall. However, walking past other doors within my hall, I can’t help but feel sad for the residents who don’t have a sign, a sparkly badge from their rollout plastered on it. Being in college, I thought we were past the point of having to flash our accomplishments or club acceptances to everyone. But, ironically, I still keep my Swingtime sign up. 

The issue with rollouts is about finding a balance. Yes, they are great activities to make new members, especially new freshmen, feel welcome in this big Stanford labyrinth. However, peace and quiet are essential and warranted for all students living in dorms on campus. Rollouts have been a part of Stanford for so long, that they will most likely not be fading away anytime soon. But, perhaps it’s time to begin searching for a less disruptive form of club initiation.

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