Traditions
Birthday Ball
** Get all the details about Birthday Ball **
Year after year on a brisk night in February, students, faculty, staff, parents, and alumni stroll in to participate in one of the most historical traditions held on campus: Birthday Ball. This magical event is Washington College’s way of celebrating the birth of not only one of the Founding Father of our country, George Washington, but of our school. Birthday Ball truly is a phenomenal event, and is projected to sellout. We fancy that not too many people would dare miss such an event!
Learn more about Birthday Ball.
Mayday - A Celebration of the Spirit of Revolution
Every May 1st, the Student Events Board plans a huge festival called “Mayday Revolution” starting at noon on the Campus Green (Cain Gymnasium is the rain location, we will notify you via email if the location changes). The event features live music from five different revolutionary-themed bands, revolutionary student poetry readings, fun inflatables, a giant slide, a mechanical bull ride, and other attractions. The goal of this event is to recapture the musical and poetic spirit of the original Mayday as it was envisioned by Professor Bennet Lamond, who started the tradition in 1968. Lamond had the idea for Mayday when he was teaching his class about “Carpe Diem” poetry - a type of poetry which encourages the reader to seize the day and as such and is often the preferred cry of revolutionaries. On May 1st, Lamond decided that it was time to stop simply reading poetry to his class and start living it. As such, he took his students outside and they acted out the poetry, danced, sang, and drank wine. Some students even grabbed musical instruments. One student picked flowers from each and every lawn in Chestertown. Then, they all decorated a May Day pole to celebrate the ‘carpe diem’ attitude. They placed the pole where the CAC is now.
Later that night several male students returned, got naked, and moved the pole to the green. It was this tradition of getting naked that stuck with the college through the ages and, somewhat unfortunately, not the music or poetry.
Music, art, and poetry were essential parts of the first Mayday, things that are now lost. Furthermore, Mayday seems to have lost some of Lamond’s lesson - to not only read about important issues, injustice, poverty, disease, and war, but to fight against these things through non-violent demonstration and artistic displays.Since this event is open to the public on the campus green, members of the Chestertown community, families, children of all ages, professors, staff, and alumni attend. As such, nudity and inappropriate behavior will not be permitted nor tolerated. With families, kids, and community members attending, we want to set a good precedent for future Mayday events and represent Washington College as an institution and its students. Moreover, the original Mayday was not about alcohol and nudity. During the original Mayday, students had a couple glasses of wine or beers, but did not drink in excess; the students’ day was spent demonstrating, learning, listening to music, reading poetry, and standing up for civil liberties and social justice..
There will be no alcohol served at event due to its public nature and logistical challenges. However, if you choose to partake in consuming alcoholic beverages before you arrive at the event, we ask that you keep the above information, as well as the original Mayday, in mind, are decent and responsible, and take advantage of this day for what it was intended to be.
Welcome Back Week
More info coming soon!
Comedy Week
The Student Event Board’s Comedy Week is a full week of laughs and fun! Occurring November 15-19, Comedy Week seeks to create a hilarious atmosphere to campus for a full week. The week’s mission? To bring laughter and joy to every student on campus and to provide the biggest, most entertaining events the campus has seen.
This series of events varies each year but generally consist of a “Roast” of a well known personality on campus (past comedy week’s have seen roasts of professors, students and even George Washington himself), a marathon of a comedic TV show or movie, the Student Comedy Competition, and stand up comics. The week culminates in the performance of a mainstage, popular stand up comic. Past mainstage comics include Nick Swardson and Jamie Kennedy!
Laughter and fun are the main components of Comedy Week. It is truly a WAC classic and fun for everyone!
Waterfront Festival
The Chestertown Waterfront Festival & Cardboard Boat Regatta promises boating, sailing, and kayaking on the Chester River, a cardboard boat race, a Native American fishing and artifacts display, exhibits on watershed ecology, a touch tank, crafts, good food, family activities and music along the scenic Chester River. “It combines a mixture of nautical recreation, maritime culture and live entertainment right in the historic district,” says event organizer JoAnn Fairchild. “From the fried fish and funnel cake by Rose Green to the guided canoe trip with Sultana Projects, there is something for everyone” on September 25, 2010, from 12 noon to 4:00 PM in Chestertown’s Wilmer Park.
