In celebration of school traditions

Published 11:33 am Thursday, September 6, 2018

It is around this time of the school year that an abundance of traditions are upheld and highlighted, and we relish this aspect of school life.

Some of the traditions are epic in scope or special in quality, such that they happen only once a year. Other traditions are informal and subtle but important and may happen multiple times every day.

On the epic end of the spectrum is Longwood University’s The Greatest Athletics March Ever (The G.A.M.E.). For nine years now, it has signified the start to another academic and athletic year on the Longwood campus.

Email newsletter signup

A Longwood athletics press release continued by noting that the annual university-wide event began in 2010 and has expanded over the past nine iterations to celebrate the upcoming year with a full day’s worth of activities, including a pep rally, the unveiling of the annual Longwood scarf, a march through the Town of Farmville and finally a Longwood athletics showdown hosted by one of Longwood’s fall sports teams.

A new standard was set this year for the scope of The G.A.M.E.

The release noted that for the culmination of the Aug. 24 event, the Longwood community set an NCAA Division I record by bringing 2,073 people to the Lancer field hockey team’s thrilling 2-1 win over Bucknell University at Elizabeth Burger Jackson Field. It was the highest-recorded attendance for a regular season game since the NCAA began tracking such statistics in 2006.

Both Hampden-Sydney College (H-SC) and Longwood hold opening convocations.

Longwood’s Convocation will be held Thursday, Sept. 13, in Willett Hall, and it will feature something called “Convocation Caps.”

As stated on the university’s website, “Seniors embark on their final year on campus at Convocation, a longstanding Longwood tradition highlighted by the ‘capping’ of seniors by their friends. The gravity-defying caps are decorated to reflect the recipient’s personality and passions.”

Hampden-Sydney had its Opening Convocation on Aug. 28, and Thomas Shomo delivered the address. During it, he made reference to the “longstanding tradition on our campus that we speak to each other as we pass,” noting that “no one is undeserving of your acknowledgment.”

On its website, H-SC notes that “with more than 240 years of experience, Hampden-Sydney knows a little something about tradition. Some traditions here are informal, such as the polite greetings between all community members on the sidewalk, or the ties and sundresses you’ll find dotting the Hill during football games. Other traditions at Hampden-Sydney are more consequential, such as the moment when each freshman signs the honor code bearing witness to a sacred and solemn pledge.”

We celebrate these traditions and hope they keep living on.