Today, some 50 years after the first Puddle Jump, three of the event’s founders — Chris Callahan ’78, Scott Copeland ’78, and Lars Llorente ’78 — returned to campus to kick off this year’s edition.

Within vaunted traditions there are always new wrinkles. Take the Bates tradition of the Maine governor lighting a torch to kick off Winter Carnival. This year, Maine Gov. Janet Mills didn’t do the ...