Student body Carleton typically enrolls about 2,000 students, with roughly equal numbers of women and men. 10.2% of students are
international, with the most represented countries being China (4.3%), South Korea (0.8%), India (0.7%), Canada (0.7%), and Japan (0.4%). In the 2013–2014 academic year, the school's Model United Nations team ranked among the top 25 in the nation. Carleton's Model United Nations team has also been awarded the Best Delegation in previous editions of the World Model United Nations competition.
Student publications The Carletonian is the school's student newspaper. It was founded in 1877 and renamed
The Carletonia from June 1881 until November 12, 1921, when it regained its original title. The paper was originally published annually, then monthly or semi-monthly until fall 1910, when it began regular weekly publication. From January to September 1977, the paper was published daily under the title
The Carleton Daily, after which time it reverted to weekly publication as
The Carletonian. Currently, it is distributed weekly on Fridays during the school year.
The Cow Print is a satire magazine at Carleton, published and distributed fortnightly. It was founded in 1999 as
The Carl, an arts and culture supplement to
The Carletonian, and renamed
The Cow Print in May 2021.
The Carleton Literary Association Paper (The CLAP) is a weekly satire publication, distributed on Fridays during convocation time. The magazine is printed in grayscale, on 8.5" x 11" paper instead of traditional newsprint.
The CLAP is notable for accepting any and all student submissions, allowing any student to have their opinions and jokes published without censorship.
Traditions Carleton has numerous student traditions and a long history of student pranks, including painting the college's water tower. Notably, a likeness of
President Clinton was painted on the tower the night before his commencement speech in 2000. Early the following morning, college maintenance staff painted over it (although in his speech, Clinton mentioned his amusement and regret it had been covered before he could see it).
Schiller bust A bust of
Friedrich Schiller, known simply as "Schiller", has made regular, brief appearances at large campus events. The tradition dates back to 1956, when two students absconded with the bust from Scoville Library while books were being transferred to the new library. "Schiller" resided in their dorm rooms for a period, only to have the bust taken from them. Possession of the bust escalated into an elaborate competition, which took on a high degree of secrecy and strategy. Schiller's public appearances, accompanied with a cry of "Schiller!", are a tacit challenge to other students to capture the bust. The currently circulating bust of Schiller was retrieved from
Puebla, Mexico in the summer of 2003. In 2006, students created an online scavenger hunt, made up of a series of complex riddles about Carleton, which led participants to Schiller's hidden location. The bust was stolen from the winner of the scavenger hunt. At commencement in 2006, the holders of the bust arranged for Schiller to "graduate". When his name was called at the appropriate moment, the bust was pulled from behind the podium and displayed. In March 2010, the bust of Schiller appeared on
The Colbert Report. The appearance was organized by custodians of Schiller who contacted
Peter Gwinn, a Carleton alumnus who was a writer for the program. The bust also appeared on a Halloween broadcast of
A Prairie Home Companion on Minnesota Public Radio.
Rotblatt In 1964, Carleton students named an intramural slow-pitch
softball league after
Marv Rotblatt, a former Chicago White Sox pitcher. Although traditional intramural softball is still played at Carleton, the name "Rotblatt" now refers to a campus-wide annual beer softball game that is played with one inning for every year of the school's existence. The game begins at sunrise and lasts until the slated number of innings have been completed for that year. The only rule for gameplay is that all players must have a cup in one hand. In 1997,
Sports Illustrated honored Rotblatt in its "Best of Everything" section with the award, "Longest Intramural Event". Rotblatt himself attended the game several times over the course of his life and appreciated the tradition.
Friday Flowers A highly visible campus tradition is "Friday Flowers", where students can purchase individual flowers from a local florist and place them in one another's mailboxes each Friday of term. This tradition was in the news after three students died in a car accident en route to a frisbee tournament in 2014. Students at the nearby
St. Olaf College sent over Friday Flowers for each student's mailbox. Later that fall, after a St. Olaf student died, Carleton returned the gesture.
Freshman Frisbee Toss Every first year student receives a frisbee on their first day of orientation. The design of the disc changes from year to year but always includes a penguin and the graduating year. At the Frisbee Toss Ceremony, students write their name on the frisbee, gather on the Bald Spot in a circle and throw their discs. This officially marks the beginning of a student's time at Carleton. After the toss, each new student collects a disc and eventually returns it to the original owner in the hopes of making a new friend.
Beer Olympics Each spring term since at least 2002 a number of Carleton students have participated in Beer Olympics (BO). In recent years, over 100 students have competed. BO is a competition that spans two days and consists of a series of events involving chugging beer (usually
Hamm's). These events include the frisbee, in which two students chug four beers out of a frisbee placed on the floor; the high-jump, in which a single student chugs up to eight beers out of a one-story-tall
beer bong; and the 40-40, in which a student chugs a 40-ounce beer and runs a 40-yard dash. Every year, a commission of students is elected to plan and organize Beer Olympics. The commission rotates every year, and any changes to the rules must be ratified and explained in the Beer Olympics Manifesto, which as of 2019 was 11 pages long. ==Athletics==