Special Events and Traditions</p>
<pre><code>September Convocation
Convocation is the traditional opening of the College each year. On the afternoon before the first day of classes, the faculty and student body gather in the amphitheater to celebrate the beginning of a new academic year. This is the first formal College event that new students attend.
Junior Big Sister
This is a well-established tradition at Mount Holyoke. An incoming first-year student is joined by a member of the junior class. First-year students are escorted to convocation by their big sisters; during the year the big sisters offer advice and support to their little sisters on campus issues.
Student Organization Fair
The Office of Student Programs sponsors the Student Organization FairActivities Fair at the beginning of the fall semester. It is an opportunity for student leaders to showcase their clubs and organizations and for interested students to become acquainted with the various offerings. Each group staffs an information table, and members are available to answer questions.
Disorientation
This event provides an opportunity for first-year students and seniors to get to know each other. Additionally, it provides an opportunity for seniors to develop a supportive and friendly atmosphere among themselves and with the first-year students. This event involves a series of fun and varied activities that take place over the course of four to six days in the fall semester.
Elfing
During October, sophomores become elves and leave little gifts for the first-year students. Each sophomore anonymously elfs a first-year student for several days until they reveal their identities at a party.
Family and Friends Weekend
Held in the fall, Family and Friends Weekend is a time when students invite their families and friends to visit the campus and learn about the College community. The weekend features two and a half days of events planned by a committee of students and administrators in cooperation with the Office of Student Programs. Events include master classes taught by faculty, open houses, entertainment by campus performing groups, athletic events, and much more.
Mountain Day
When fall weather sets in, speculation begins about the date for Mountain Day. One of the Colleges oldest traditions, Mountain Day provides an unexpected break from classes and other obligations, and many students spend the day enjoying outdoor activities, in particular, hiking on Skinner Mountain. The pealing of the Mary Lyon Hall bell after the 8:00 AM ring announces to the campus that its Mountain Day.
Fall and Spring Weekends
These weekends are coordinated by student organizations, the Office of Student Programs, and the Network. Events may include concerts, parties, and movies. The highlight of Fall Weekend is Las Vegas Night. Pangynaskeia (a celebration of women), Earth Day, and a carnival theme have sometimes been incorporated into Spring Weekend.
Founder’s Day
This day commemorates the founding of the College and falls on the Sunday nearest to November 8, the day in 1837 when the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary first opened.
Black History Month
February is a special time for awareness of African American culture through lectures, films, music, poetry, dance, and theater. Students, faculty, and staff work together to organize this celebration of African American heritage.
Junior Show
The junior class traditionally stages its own show to entertain the College, usually during the last weekend in February. Over the years returning alumnae have been known to sing, even twenty to thirty years after the event, the songs from their show. The closing night is junior/senior night, generally followed by a party for the two classes.
Pangynaskeia
This word means encompassing the total world of women: the physical, intellectual, moral, and spiritual, and it was once to suggested to Mary Lyon as the name for the original seminary. It now names the time, traditionally a weekend in April, when Mount Holyoke celebrates its past, present, and future with lectures, panel presentations, a picnic, and an awards ceremony.
Faculty Show
Once every four years, the faculty and staff entertain the College by putting on their own show so each generation of students has the chance to see one. It is an opportunity to see your professors as youve never seen them before; the last faculty show was held during the 20012002 academic year.
Kathryn Irene Glascock Intercollegiate Poetry Contest
Begun in 1923, this annual event is among the oldest and most prestigious intercollegiate poetry contests in the nation. It is a memorable experience to hear the six undergraduate contestants read on Friday evening and the three distinguished judges read from their own works on Saturday morning.
Preview Mount Holyoke
Each spring, usually in mid-April, admitted students are invited for two days for an introduction to Mount Holyoke while the campus is in full swing. Accepted students have the opportunity to attend classes, meet current students, and get to know the campus. This is a perfect opportunity to get involved with the admission process, as more than three hundred potential students visit the campus.
Senior Class Gift
A special tradition at Mount Holyoke, this annual program is conducted by members of the senior class. A team of representatives from the residence halls, headed by the class agent, raises donations from the senior class for its gift to the College. The head class agent, who consults with a member of the Office of Development, plans the personalized campaign, chooses the dorm representatives, and creates materials (letters, posters, articles) that inform the seniors and the entire campus of the gift.
The campaign that focuses on the project customarily begins late in October with M&Cs in dorm living rooms. During specially designated giving weeks, a dorm representative visits each senior in the residence hall, explains about the gift and program, and asks for her participation. Through the Alumni Fund project, seniors hear about the tradition and the importance of alumnae giving to Mount Holyoke. The representatives encourage the seniors to make a gift as a gesture of support for the College. (If a senior doesnt give, she doesnt have the opportunity to vote on the class gift.) Participation, rather than the amount of each womans gift, is stressed throughout the campaign.
Champagne and Strawberries
This event, sponsored by the Alumnae Association, welcomes members of the senior class as Mount Holyokes newest alumnae and celebrates their last day of classes.
Senior Survival Night
This program, sponsored by the Alumnae Association, provides seniors an opportunity to learn about first apartments, first jobs, car payments, social life on their own, and the marvels of the real world from alumnae.
Commencement and Reunion Weekends
Among the highlights of this weekend are the alumnae parade on Saturday morning, the baccalaureate service on Saturday evening, and commencement on Sunday.
On Saturday morning, one thousand alumnae in white march past Skinner Hall, around the green, and up to the grove, led by the loyalty classes (alumnae returning for their sixty-fifth-, seventieth-, and seventy-fifth-year reunions) followed by returning alumnae and graduating seniors. On Saturday evening at the baccalaureate service, the senior class is addressed by two of its members and by two members of the faculty selected by the senior class.
On Sunday, commencement exercises are held before a gathering of family and friends in the amphitheater. Distinguished honorary degree recipients are invited to campus, one of whom is the speaker.
One week after commencement, a second reunion weekend is held with eight classes returning for their reunions. Similar traditions such as the alumnae parade and Alumnae Association meeting, a barbecue luncheon, and class banquets make up the weekend.
Alumnae Association
Students participate in the two reunion weekends that are the Alumnae Associations biggest events of the year. The Alumnae Association office depends heavily on student workers and would have a difficult time organizing and implementing the program without their dedication and long hours of hard work. Students are also given the opportunity to serve on the Associations program and Alumnae Quarterly committees.