Wellesley College has a lot of long-standing traditions, many of which date all the way back to the establishment of the College. These traditions are unique and deeply connected to our institution’s identity as a historically women’s college. We look forward to them each year, and they make us feel more connected to the school spirit and to one another. Such events include Flower Sunday, Lake Day, Commencement and Step Singing, hooprolling, class tree planting and Marmon. Some smaller ones include Primal Scream the night before the commencement of final exams.
Another tradition is freshmen initiation — we throw copper pennies into Lake Waban and retrieve one for good luck in our college career. Traditionally, it was a proper “lake jump,” with people going all the way into the water to pick up the pennies. However, over the last few years, due to health and safety concerns, freshmen receive “recommendations” to simply dip their coins in the water and get in — at maximum — knee-deep. The last class to have a proper lake jump was the class of 2026, and with them graduating this spring, none of the subsequent Wellesley generations will have experienced the original lake jump.
Wellesley traditions changing or dying out due to security concerns is not new. For instance, from 1889 to 1916, Wellesley used to have a tradition of Junior Forensic Burning, where the junior class would dress up as ghosts using white bedsheets, form a procession, and ritualistically burn their schoolwork. The tradition most likely died out due to fire hazard concerns. Another suggested reason for discontinuing other traditions, such as Float Night, which existed from the 1880s to 1947, is simply due to the lack of interest and enthusiasm from the student body.
What we can learn from the past is that Wellesley traditions were dying out for two main reasons: safety concerns, typically raised by the administration, and a lack of enthusiasm from the student body. This simple formula may as well lead more Wellesley traditions towards a decline.
We have recently seen new security rules affect the annual Rocky Horror Picture Show. The Halloween tradition, which is a student-run, carefree night for community expression, faced steep security fees and heavy police presence under new campus policies. Overall, many Wellesley students have commented on the fact that the opportunities for informal community events have significantly decreased due to COVID-19 and new campus security rules, which would naturally lead to the extinction of informal traditions.
So are Wellesley traditions dying out? It is a question everyone might have an individual perspective on, but in my opinion, we are definitely witnessing a shift in priorities among many Wellesley students from college life involvement towards an academically focused lifestyle. People often skip campus events to complete problem sets, and I will admit, I am somewhat guilty of that as well. While doing your best academically is undoubtedly important, under the strict rules that already limit student activities on campus, we should be careful not to let traditions fade away because of an overly academic mindset — or we risk losing what truly makes Wellesley Wellesley.
Contact the editors responsible for this story: Caitlin Donovan, Avery Finley
