Students grabbed their lip gloss and breath mints and puckered up for an old ISU tradition Wednesday night at the Campanile.

Mass campaniling was at midnight Wednesday, the climax of an evening of entertainment that included a Dazy Head Mazy concert and a fireworks display by Prism Fireworks and Pyrotechnics.

“It’s a tradition for Homecoming every year,” said Gretchen Frietsche, Homecoming committee special events coordinator.

According to ISU tradition, students don’t become true coeds until they are kissed under the Campanile as the bells ring out at midnight, said Frietsche, junior in construction engineering.

Homecoming Central Committee members said it’s easy to participate in the evening.

“You just go out and find someone to kiss under the Campanile,” said Homecoming Special Events Coordinator Piper Anderson, junior in journalism and mass communication. “It’s something fun to do.”

It’s also one of the biggest events during Homecoming, Frietsche said, attracting 1,000 to 2,000 participants each year to the musical Campanile.

“Some people come with a group from their residence hall, greek house or their significant other,” Frietsche said. There are even those who go to the event without a partner just to be a part of the tradition, she said.

“The tradition of campaniling began back when there used to be a curfew in the residence halls,” said David Critchlow, Alumni Association assistant director of student programs. “The women had to sneak out of the residence halls to meet their significant other under the Campanile to kiss and get back before they got caught.”

Once the curfew was lifted, it was a lot easier for people to campanile, Critchlow said. Mass campaniling, which is also held during Greek Week and Senior Week, is a way “to keep the tradition alive of becoming a true ISU coed,” Critchlow said.

In recent years, the tradition has seen adaptations from other campus groups, Frietsche said. Reverse campaniling, held at noon during Awareness Week, is an adaptation by the gay community.