Ivy Day (United States)

Ivy Day
Named afterThe ivy plant, Hedera
TypeUniversity and college tradition
Region
New England, Northeastern United States
Founded in 1873

Ivy Day is an annual ceremony in which an ivy stone is placed on either a residential, academic or administrative building or ground to commemorate academic excellence. The ceremony is most known for being practiced among older colleges in the Northeastern United States. It is most associated with the Ivy League and a group of small liberal arts college known as the Little Ivies. Some institutions announce members of Phi Beta Kappa and specialized honor designations for students.[1] Some classes donate to the college, in the form of gates, facades, and door outlines,[2] by inscribing or creating their own version of symbolic icons of the college's seal or other prominent insignia. The ivy stones are usually decorated with the graduation date and a symbol that represents the college as a whole or the class as a whole. The most common ivy stone is one-by-two feet and is usually made out of workable stone.[3]

Ivy Day seems to have first appeared at Bowdoin College in 1865, with the junior class from that year.[4] On occasion students have featured prominent alumni on their class on ivy stones or have selected to feature an engraving of a member of their graduating class. Since 1866 at Princeton, and later at other colleges, students have unveiled class ivy stones at the annual ivy day preceding commencement.[5] Students may also have a selective procession prior to the official commencement walk to honor each stone being placed on the buildings. On some occasions students plant ivy in front or on the side of their ivy stones.[6] Students are known to give speeches at Ivy Day to commemorate their time and work at the college.[7] At Tulane University, the medical school also participates in Ivy Day, likely given the fact that Tulane was founded first as a medical school.[8]

Ivy Day participants
School Location Type Founding Years participated Ivy League Little Ivy
Bates College Lewiston, Maine Private 1855 1879[9] to present

(Skipped in 1974 and 1975)[10]

Bowdoin College Brunswick, Maine Private 1794 1865[11] to present

(Skipped in 1877)[12]

Columbia University New York, New York Private 1754 1875-1918[13][14]
Princeton University Princeton, New Jersey Private 1746 1866–present[15]
Smith College Northampton, Massachusetts Private 1871 1884–present[16]
Tulane University New Orleans, Louisiana Private 1834 1909–present[17]
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Private 1740 1873–present[18]
University of Nebraska Lincoln, Nebraska Public 1869 1901–present[19]

As part of the modern college admissions process, the term "Ivy Day" also refers to the day in late March where the Ivy League universities release their admissions decisions.[20]

  1. ^ "Smith College: Events". www.smith.edu. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
  2. ^ Network, University of Nebraska-Lincoln | Web Developer. "Ivy Day | Innocents Society | University of Nebraska–Lincoln". innocents.unl.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-08-26. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
  3. ^ "Penn History-ICA Ivy Stone Brochure". www.library.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
  4. ^ "History and Traditions". Bowdoin College. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  5. ^ "The American Ivy Society, Inc". www.ivy.org. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  6. ^ Bates College website Archived 2009-04-14 at the Wayback Machine (accessed February 27, 2009)
  7. ^ UPENN website (accessed February 27, 2009)
  8. ^ "Tulane University - School of Medicine - ivy-day". 2016-03-05. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  9. ^ "Bates College | Scene Again". 2009-04-14. Archived from the original on 2009-04-14. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  10. ^ "The Class of 1975 joins the ivy stone tradition". News. 2006-05-04. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  11. ^ "History and Traditions". Bowdoin College. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  12. ^ "Columbia Daily Spectator 1 July 1877 — Columbia Spectator". spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  13. ^ "CLASS DAY AT COLUMBIA COLLEGE". The New York Times. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  14. ^ of 1918, Columbia College (Columbia University) Class (1918). Senior Year Book, 1918.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ "The American Ivy Society, Inc". www.ivy.org. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  16. ^ "Smith College Commencement & Ivy Day Traditions". www.smith.edu. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  17. ^ "Ivy Day". Medicine. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  18. ^ "Penn History-ICA Ivy Stone Brochure". 2017-03-01. Archived from the original on 2017-03-01. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  19. ^ Adam, Suzanna (2006-07-10). "Ivy Days echo from UNL's past". The Daily Nebraskan. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  20. ^ Dickler, Jessica (2023-03-30). "On 'Ivy Day,' college hopefuls hear from Harvard, Princeton — but here's the school more students want to attend". CNBC. Retrieved 2023-10-09.