Most would think that splattering paint on a college’s memorial boulder is an act of graffiti worthy of expulsion, but at Northwestern University, it is tradition.

For over a century, NU students have taken an oath to forsake sleep, the bathroom and even their homework to guard a paint-bespeckled rock in hopes of coating it in the morning mist.

Once dawn sets, students stop patrolling and add their own colors to the already multicolored rock.

“Every NU student has, at some point or another, claimed and painted ‘the rock.’ It’s a rite of passage here,” ’05 NU alumni Jordana Mishory said.

That tradition amplifies that “Wildcat spirit,” especially for the sports team.

“After our girls became national champions in lacrosse, ‘the rock’ was plastered with our school colors and ‘we’re number one!’” Mishory said. This spirit is evident throughout campus, where students lounge under sculptures and picnic by the lake.

“Everybody hangs out with everybody; you know everyone here,” ’01 Krop alumni and ’05 NU graduate Ashley Shapiro said.

Even Chicago is second to this intellectual base, whose students prefer an evening in the school theater to walking the city streets.

“Students will go to the city on the weekend, but you can’t beat the campus; there is always something fun going on,” Mishory said.

For example, the film club hosts a night once or twice a week to show block-buster movies, indie films or school-produced documentaries.

Activities like these aren’t what attracted NU students initially. They came for an education. “It’s not a party school at all,” Shapiro said. “NU is definitely a learning-centered school.”

“It’s kind of a nerdy school,” ’04 Krop Salutatorian and NU sophomore Baylee Shapiro said.

Don’t cross off other schools, however, if you can’t fair cold weather. “Last January and February, it was never warmer than 20 degrees,” Ashley Shapiro said.

So before shopping for paint to show case your wildcat spirit, remember to buy a decent coat.