Sarah Wilson Week: The Traditions Continue

By Hong Nguyen
 

Sarah Wilson Week (SWW) is one of the must-do events on campus. Traditionally, Sarah Wilson Week is held during the first few weeks of the fall semester. All students are invited to participate regardless of their class years.

During the first week of the fall semester, each member of the Class of 2020 was assigned a “Sophomore Buddy” (a member of the Sophomore class) and a “Big” (a member of the Junior class). Sophomore Buddies and Bigs are tradition: Juniors and Sophomores give presents and clues to their freshmen before finally revealing themselves. The purpose is to foster unity between the classes and for the Sophomores and Juniors to teach the younger class the traditions they have learned at Wilson.

Monday, Sept. 12, was Pirates and Ninjas Day. The even and odd class years dress up representing the symbol for their class: Evens are ninjas and Odds are pirates. In the evening, the sophomores led the freshmen around campus to sing in front of various buildings before singing for the senior class. As is tradition, and to the freshmen’s surprise, the seniors thanked freshmen by dumping buckets of water on them through the second and third floors of Riddle Hall. The juniors “Bigs” then came to rescue their “Littles” with water guns.

On Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 9:15 p.m. in Laird Hall, the “Bigs” finally revealed themselves to their “Littles” and dinked them with the Class of 2020 green and blue dinks. A color ceremony followed afterward and seniors took their Littles to the main green to celebrate with the traditional candle arrangement in the shape of a “W”. The freshmen also received their class banner.

Wednesday, Sept. 14, night proved the most exciting of the week. The “Bigs” kidnapped their “Littles” and took them to Sarah Wilson’s grave on a hay ride filled with laughter and singing. The ride distracted the freshmen so they did not have a clue that the seniors were already at the gravesite ahead of time, ready to spray water on them once again. The students then made a circle and sang one last time for the seniors. But at Wilson College, one surprise is never enough! Instead of retiring to a nice, quiet residence hall, freshmen returned to a decoration party with glitter, banners and silly string everywhere, courtesy of their Sophomore Buddies.

The fun continued on Thursday, Sept. 15, with “Twin day,” when students wear matching or identical clothes. Banner stealing began at noon, with each class hiding their banner and which can only be found by following clues late into the night. Banner hunting did not become intense until midnight, and the campus was full of students walking around, sneaking into the darkest corners and hoping to bring victory to their respective class.

The fun came to an end on Friday, Sept. 16, with the conclusion of banner stealing and a color war on the green at noon. The contest ended in a tie between the sophomores and the juniors, concluding the end of the week that was one for the books.

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