Groundhog Day took place last Friday, Feb. 2, and few University of Mississippi students seemed to take note of it.
The holiday falls on Feb. 2 every year. If Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog, sees his shadow in Young Township, Penn., there will supposedly be six more weeks of winter; if his shadow is absent, then he foresees spring arriving earlier than expected.
At dawn on Friday, Phil was stirred from his burrow by a band of top hat-wearing Pennsylvanians, called the Inner Circle, and held up to the sun. He did not cast a shadow, indicating that spring will be upon us sooner than anticipated.
Kate Digges, a freshman psychology major, is familiar with this tradition.
“If (Phil) casts a shadow or not determines whether we have six weeks more of winter or if spring is fast approaching,” Digges said.
Digges knows someone from Pennsylvania. Does the friend care?
“No,” Digges said. “Not whatsoever.”
Perhaps Michael Cheng, a freshman accounting major and Oxford native who lived in Pennsylvania for five years, is more passionate.
“My family that lives up there (doesn’t) celebrate it,” Cheng said.
Cheng was even unfamiliar with the results of this year’s Groundhog Day.
“I’m unaware if the groundhog saw his shadow today or not,” Cheng said.
This is a troubling theme around campus. Despite Punxsutawney Phil’s national renown as a climate change-predicting psychic, hardly any UM students spare him more than an amused thought.
“I love Groundhog Day,” Benson Le, a freshman computer science major, said. “I will say I don’t exactly know what it means — something about an extended season if a groundhog doesn’t pop out of the ground?”
Despite this confusion, Le is an avid supporter of groundhogs in general.
“But I do love groundhogs,” Le said. “They’re really cute moles in my opinion, and yeah, they’re great.”
Though groundhogs and moles are, in fact, two entirely different species, this enthusiasm is appreciated. In regard to whether Groundhog Day should be discontinued due to the widespread lack of support, Le is still in favor of carrying on the tradition.
“I’m all for a holiday — not really a holiday, but a day that’s always been there,” Le said. “And I feel like it’s vital for society to have Groundhog Day.”
Le was asked if he knew where the groundhog lives.
“Underground,” Le said.
When asked for a city and state, Le came up short.
“That is a good question,” Le said. “And I just really don’t know.”
Digges, Cheng and Le all could not identify anyone else who is passionate about Groundhog Day; additionally, they struggled to provide a spelling of “Punxsutawney.”
“Probably not,” Le said.
“That is a hellacious word to spell,” Cheng said. “And I think it would be a waste of memory in my brain.”
“P… h…,” Digges said, before abandoning her attempt.
The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club — which was established in 1887, the year of the first Groundhog Day — did not comment on the pervasive ignorance toward the holiday when asked by The Daily Mississippian.
