Walking into Catlett Music Center one Thursday night in July, one thing was definitely clear: Camp Crimson fever had taken over.

The long-running Camp Crimson welcomes new students to campus. This summer’s editions were held July 15-17, July 22-24 and July 29-31.

The Pride of Oklahoma played loudly on stage to welcome the Sooner session campers to “Tips and Traditions,” while small-group leaders gathered their families, each wearing a different color of handkerchief, in the Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall.

“Tips and Traditions” is organized to show off OU’s rich traditions and what it means to be a Sooner fan.

The lights soon dimmed and famous athletes from OU’s past were projected onto a screen on stage. Screams and claps resonated each time a well-recognized athlete or coach was shown.

As the lights came back on, current OU athletes found their way to the front of the stage. Leading the pack were men’s basketball guard Cade Davis and women’s basketball guard Whitney Hand.

“I don’t want to talk about last year’s season, but I don’t mind talking about the upcoming season,” Davis said, as he laughed into the microphone.

Each athlete, representing a different official team, took turns introducing themselves and explaining the SoonerNation — a program designed to reward OU students for attending home events (excluding football games).

The first tradition of the night came when Pride of Oklahoma Drum Major Matt Sumner took over by introducing his band and starting the “Oklahoma!” chant. The song prompted the hundreds of campers to stand and join in.

In between songs, rumblings could be heard from the news campers — all getting to know the people sitting next to them.

“Boren brought this one back,” Sumner said, as he turned to his band who began “The OU Chant.”

“O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A” came from each camper as they followed Sumner’s lead, with his or her right index finger extended high in the air.

Union Programming Board President Steven Lee kept the entertainment rolling with his Camp Crimson versions of “Family Feud” and “Jeopardy,” both of which were used to teach campers tips for getting ahead during their first semester and OU’s long-standing traditions.

“Who wants a free tank top?” Lee screamed, putting an emphasis on the “who,” and tossing out free white tank tops to campers.

Through the games, campers were taught how to utilize the Action Tutoring program, the writing center and how to attain test files.

The game was brought back to life through a comical-relief moment. Lee asked a camper “What are the official OU colors?”

When the camper revealed “red and white” as his answers, the audience erupted with an overpowering, “NO!” (The correct answer is crimson and cream.)

The night ended with a battle of the bands. Two teams were organized with their lead singers blindfolded and forced to lip sync. One team was given a Taylor Swift song and the other, the latest Justin Bieber hit.

Every crazy movement of the blindfolded lip syncer prompted an even crazier response from the audience.

Following the “Tips and Traditions” session, the night wasn’t over for the campers: They were sent on their way to “Stuff at the Huff,” an event designed to show off the Huston Huffman Center and to allow campers time to play dodgeball, volleyball, basketball and to climb the rock wall.