So, I’ve lived in the Five Colleges area for over a year. I work at one, go to school at another, and am supported financially by a third, where J works and goes to school. But it wasn’t until yesterday in my reference class that I heard about the Five Colleges / Scooby Doo myth, which about half my class already knew. According to wikipedia:

A popular urban legend among Five College students holds that the characters on the Saturday morning cartoon Scooby-Doo represent the five colleges. The legend has Daphne representing Mount Holyoke College and Velma as Smith College, with Fred representing Amherst College, Shaggy as Hampshire College, and Scooby as UMass Amherst. Hanna-Barbera Productions, CBS executive Fred Silverman, and some of the show’s writers have said that this story is false […] In fact, Hampshire College did not open until a year after the premiere of Scooby-Doo. [via]

But still. Pretty weird, right?

(On a related note, you can find out which college you are here.)