Yale students have a rather bizarre tradition that involves the toe of former Yale president Theodore Dwight Woolsey's bronze statue.
Yale tour guides routinely explain that students rub the toe for good luck once they graduate. Legend has it that Woosley, when he was president, would attend a regatta in support of the Yale crew team. Every time he kicked off a boat with his left toe to start the race, the Yale team would win.
Unfortunately, however, this legend has no basis in fact, and the toe itself isn't known to be lucky. And the tradition that grads rub the toe isn't true either — it was invented to cover up the real tradition: when students graduate, they urinate on the toe, which might explain the slightly worn golden tint of the bronze toe.