CLASS DAY

Harvard is so cosely bound to the past by a thousand ties that it may truthfully be said that the undergraduate, or the graduate as well, who is not at least acquainted with its history and rich traditional background, is lacking in a fundamental knowledge if not a thorough appreciation of the College. Nothing drives this home more forcibly than the annual Class Day. To the casual observer it might appear merely another day of meaningless jubilation and glamorous festivity, superficial and transitory. To the initiated, to those who can penetrate beneath the gay laughter, the forced smiles, the whirl and blaze of confetti and streamers, is revealed a deep insight into a romantic trend in the history of Harvard.

For if there is a romantic side to the College it has manifested itself in those traditions which make Class Day what it is. The Tree Oration, the numerous Spreads, the Ivy Oration, the dancing, even the confetti battles in the Stadium have their antecedents in the Dark Ages of the College. The original tree was the "Liberty" or "Rebellion" tree which stood in front of Hollis and around which the riotous sophomores of "Rebelliad" notoriety circled in the light of the bonfire. The spread might be said to antedate the famous ban on "plum cake" in 1693. For many a year Harvard graduating classes planted Ivy shoots in the unpropitious soil of the Yard. Dancing on the green was a favorite pastime, and the confetti battle is an indirect by-product of the fighting about the historic tree. Furthermore, the Class of 1838 was the first to invite mothers, sisters, and sweethearts to the celebration, the affair up to that date being hardly favorable for feminine attendance because of liberal libations of iced ruin punch.

Thus, in view of the associations of the past which have for almost two centuries accumulated about the annual Class Day, the festivity might be said to take on a new significance. The Tree and the ivy have not escaped the immutable law, but they have handed down their heritage. In much the same manner the classes which frolicked around the tree and solemnly planted the ivy shoot will bridge the gap and be reincarnated in the Class of 1928 which like all classes which have preceded it today smiles us last smile before drinking the bitter draught of departure.