In the movie “Pinocchio,” Jiminy Cricket acts as the young puppet’s conscience, teaching him the difference between right and wrong.

It was for this reason that Jiminy Cricket was the Goon Squad’s mascot between the 1950s to the 1970s, appearing on the buttons and T-shirts of its members. Today, the symbol most affiliated with the Goon Squad is the gray bin used to move students’ belongings inside the residence halls.

This year, the Goon Squad celebrates its 70th anniversary as an Orange tradition. What began in 1944 has evolved into a symbol of excitement and enthusiasm for incoming freshmen and their families.

Carrie Abbott, director of the Office of First-Year & Transfer Programs, said the tradition of the Goon Squad started because its members would enforce the rule requiring new students to wear beanies to indicate their freshmen status. In the late 1950s, the group began helping students move in to their dorms and the tradition has continued since.

“New students and their families are usually anxious when they arrive here, and we found that the Goon Squad being there to greet the students relieves their anxiety a bit, and right away makes them feel like a part of the Orange family,” Abbott said.

Abbott, who has been working with the Goon Squad since 2003, said she feels lucky to be one of the caretakers of this important tradition. She added that the students’ enthusiasm carries over to her own, as shown by the 650–750 student, faculty and alumni volunteers that signed up as early as February.

Rockette Brunetti, a 1970 alumna of the School of Education, has been coming back to SU for the past decade to volunteer with the Goon Squad, which she was also involved with during her time on campus.

Brunetti still remembers the day she moved to Haven Hall as a college freshman when “goons” came running to her parents’ car and helped unload her belongings into her room.

“The minute you have these people at your door, you feel so much better, so I started doing the same and volunteered with the Goon Squad,” she said. “And when I got an email from the alumni association about 10 years ago asking for help with Syracuse Welcome, I went for it.”

Senior Belen Crisp has volunteered with the “goons” for two years, and like Brunetti, her experience moving in as a freshman motivated her to get involved with the Goon Squad.

Crisp, a double major in finance and entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises, said that the Goon Squad is a great way of showing new families SU’s strong sense of community. She loves being able to connect with the new students, and in her eyes, that’s what Goon Squad is all about.

“When I was volunteering last year, a parent tried to tip me and my friends who were also helping,” Crisp said. “It was funny in a way, because obviously we can’t accept it, but it shows that they really do appreciate what we do.”

Published on August 20, 2014 at 1:00 am

Contact Clare: clramire@syr.edu