Journals

Class and Charter Day

May 5, 2012   

Every spring on the last day of classes the Hamilton community celebrates Class and Charter Day. All afternoon classes are cancelled, there is an awards ceremony for students and faculty, there is a big picnic lunch, and then around mid afternoon there’s a huge concert open to the community.

Yesterday marked Hamilton’s 62nd Class and Charter Day. I am fortunate enough not to have class on Friday mornings, but I still got up rather early because I had a couple things to do before the festivities began. Around noon, after getting my stuff done and visiting a few friends, I put on a shirt and tie and headed over to the awards ceremony.

A bunch of students and faculty (many of whom I knew) received some great achievement and involvement awards. One of the seniors I work with at the writing center won the Soper Merrill Prize, the most prestigious award a student can win at Hamilton. The winner of the Soper Merrill Prize is awarded a gold watch and gives a speech at graduation.

When the ceremony was over, I dropped by the all-campus picnic before meeting up with friends and heading to the concert. Every year Student Activities tries to bring a big-name headliner for the Class and Charter Day concert. Last year Sam Adams came and the year before that we had Passion Pit. This year Chiddy Bang was supposed to come, but he had to cancel. Fortunately, we were able to book Super Mash Bros, who put on an excellent show.

Class and Charter Day was a long day of eating, dancing, partying, and celebrating the end of the academic year. I had a spectacular time, but I can’t pretend I’m not a little sad about the year coming to an end; I’m going to miss Hamilton over the summer.