Transylvania University

as "Raf Week" in honor of the 19th-century botanist, inventor, and Transylvania professor Constantine Rafinesque. The university ends October with a unique combination of activities, including a lottery for four students to win the chance to spend the night in Rafinesque's tomb. The steps of Old Morrison are lined with pumpkins carved by students, faculty, staff, and members of the community around Halloween for what is called Pumpkinmania. In honor of Professor Rafinesque, the grab-and-go dining space in the Campus Center is named the "Rafskeller"—a pun on the word Rathskeller.
Transylvania is also known for the Kissing Tree, a white ash tree estimated to be nearly 280 years old–35 years older than the university itself. In the 1940s and 1950s, the administration ignored students kissing in public near the tree when it was frowned upon elsewhere on campus. Today, with the rules on public displays of affection slackened, students refer to the tree as the Kissing Tree. In 2003, The Chronicle of Higher Education …