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Beloit College's annual "mindset list" is out. It's a series of historical and cultural references that will supposedly bewilder incoming college freshmen.

This year's list, for the Class of 2019, was curated by three professors at the small liberal arts college in Wisconsin. The school says it aims to show professors and counselors which references no longer resonate with younger generations.

 of 50 factoids about the Class of 2019 include:


, the lists are "wonderful icebreakers for counselors and professors and students" and they "stimulate intergenerational conversations."


Because the only thing 18-year-olds like better than one when-I-was-your-age remark is a whole list of them, right?

Co-author Tom McBride says the mindset lists often come under criticism for portraying younger generations as "dumb or narrow," when in reality they can be a useful tool for professors.

Instead of driving a wedge between generations, the lists are designed to foster collaborative learning.

"You don't want to get hardening of the references. You don't want to go to your old yellow notes and draw out all these Watergate analogies without thinking that you have to explain them," he says in a video released along with this year's list.

 five years ago and had these observations:


McBride told NPR that he and his fellow authors spent about six months conducting research, interviewing millennials, and speaking with faculty and parents to put the list together. "The sources for this year's list, as in years past, were fairly eclectic," he said.

This year's list also included an epilogue of incoming freshmen's phrases that might baffle their older counterparts.

A few of these include "dankrupt," the state of finding oneself out of weed; "trolling," a mild form of cyberbullying; and "textroverts," people who express their feelings via text, usually girded by alcohol, but not in person.

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Beloit College's annual "mindset list" is out. It's a series of historical and cultural references that will supposedly bewilder incoming college freshmen.


For incoming freshmen, which cultural touchstones are out of touch?

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