Jake Walk at University of Vermont
The "Jake Walk" likely refers to the "Kake Walk" (often spelled with three K's), a long-standing winter carnival tradition at the University of Vermont (UVM) that originated in the late 19th century. It was a student-led event parodying the cakewalk dance from minstrel shows, featuring competitions like snow sculptures, skits, and the main "Walkin' fo' de Kake" performance where participants typically dressed in blackface, exaggerated costumes, and danced to tunes like "Cotton Babes".justice.tougalooyoutube
Kake Walk began informally in the late 1880s as "nigger shows" and was formalized by 1893 or 1897 as "Kulled Koon’s Kake Walk," replacing a canceled military ball amid the rise of Jim Crow-era minstrelsy. It ran annually for about 73 to 80 years as UVM's premier social event and fundraiser, peaking in popularity during the 1960s with crowds up to 8,000 and even celebrity performers like Janis Joplin in its final year. The tradition ended in 1969 after growing criticism, including from student leaders like Bill Pickens and the NAACP, amid the civil rights movement.youtubesevendaysvt+3
Descriptions consistently portray Kake Walk as a fraternity-organized event dominated by male students performing in pairs, with no explicit mentions of women performing in the cakewalk dance itself. While the broader winter carnival crowned a king and queen, and women were part of the campus audience or related festivities, the core blackface performances were by men; any shift away from blackface in later years (e.g., to "dark green and gold face" in 1965) still involved male fraternity participants. No sources indicate women took part in the walk.sevendaysvt+2youtube