Quinnipiac University has many traditions. From the “Bobcat Roar” chant and “Beat Yale” hockey games, generations of students are connected through these rituals. However, there’s one tradition that’s gone too far and is an absurd rule for all students to follow. I’m talking about staying off the quad grass.

One of the first things students are told as a first-year is to never, under any circumstances, walk on the grass. Orientation leaders say it’s not cool and something that no one does. Thus, as scared first-years, new students immediately follow this blindly. Perhaps the biggest perpetrator of this fear is Quinnipiac Barstool.

On Sept. 1, not even one week into the new semester, the Quinnipiac Barstool account posted a video to Instagram of a student walking directly on the grass with the caption, “What should be the punishment for this?” The replies were exactly what I want to preach about.

The top comment, which received around 11,400 likes, said, “The person posting this is the one (that) should be punished.” Another comment used a more rational approach and emphasized that students pay too much in tuition to be scared to walk on their own quad.

The post attracted over 200 comments from current and former Quinnipiac students and the most-liked comments were overwhelmingly supportive of walking on the grass.

However, I have yet to see more students doing this. There is power in numbers. If we all start utilizing the grass space more, others will join. The grass was meant to be walked on, layed in and touched.

They say the quickest way from point A to point B is in a straight line, but if you go to Quinnipiac, there are no direct routes from one place to another. If a student needs to walk from the Recreation and Wellness Center to the Buckman Theater, they need to maneuver around curvy paths that intersect with each other, or walk swiftly through herds of slow walkers.

It’s time to end the frustration and pressure. It’s time to rebel against the status quo and just walk on the grass. I hope the first-year students reading this can be the class to end this anti-green regime.