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Hood College Traditions
Convocation
The official start of the academic year, this ceremony includes recognition of students earning Convocation Honors (3.6 G.P.A. or higher for the preceding year).
Big and Little Sibs
Upperclass students assist incoming students in getting settled and offer them advice and encouragement. Big and Little Sibs often become lifelong friends.
Freshman Bash
The first official dance of the academic year, the Freshman Bash attracts students from many area colleges and universities.
Margaret S. Hood Ball
One of Hood’s popular traditions is the Margaret Scholl Hood Ball, where students and faculty are joined by alumnae and alumni to dance the night away.
Fall Family Weekend
Parents and family members are invited to a weekend filled with special events, including faculty lectures; athletic events; theatrical, musical and dance performances; plus a myriad of social programs and activities for the entire family.
Handel’s “Messiah”
For more than a half century, the Hood choir and the U.S. Naval Academy Men’s and Women’s Glee Clubs have performed Handel’s “Messiah,” offering concerts on both campuses in early winter.
Candlelight Vespers
Students, faculty and staff participate in special readings, musical performances and singing of holiday carols at this annual ecumenical service in Coffman Chapel.
Holiday Teas
The residence halls and the Commuter Lounge in the Whitaker Campus Center are lavishly decorated and viewed by everyone on campus at receptions preceding Holiday Dinner.
Holiday Dinner
The Student Government Association (SGA) hosts this annual event that features great food, music, awards and a festive holiday atmosphere.
Midnight Breakfast
The night before fall and spring-semester final exams, students enjoy a sumptuous midnight breakfast served by faculty and staff.
Give Your Heart to Hood Day
The Student Government Association sponsors Give Your Heart to Hood Day as a special time to involve members of the campus community in organized volunteer projects or activities that benefit or enhance some aspect of the College.
Shrove Tuesday
Celebrated on the day before Ash Wednesday, the Commuter Council and members of the Hood community enjoy “Fat Tuesday” in Mardi Gras style. A festive gathering and traditional brunch, including pancakes and waffles, are highlights of this event.
Ring Dinner and Ring Formal
Juniors first put on their Hood rings at a formal dinner in the spring and celebrate the ring tradition at a dance held in their honor.
Liberation of the Black Mind
Sponsored by the Black Student Union, this weekend of educational, cultural and social events attracts students and community members from the local and regional area. Highlights of the weekend include a guest speaker and panelists of national recognition.
All-College Colloquium
Each year, the campus community comes together for discussions and to hear noted authorities speak on a theme, which has varied from “Justice” to “Tocqueville.”
International Show
The International Club sponsors an annual cultural show each fall semester to introduce the campus to ethnic and cultural traditions of a diverse student body. Educational presentations in different languages, geographic displays, international music, dances and an international fashion show are among the highlights of this annual event.
Spring Arts Weekend
In the spring, Hood celebrates the arts with concerts, plays and displays of artistic talents, including music, dance, theater, painting, sculpture and more.
May Madness
Finals, projects and classes are forgotten during May Madness, a festive weekend of concerts, movies and dances sponsored by Campus Activities Board (CAB), and the always hilarious Air Band sponsored by House Forum.
Baccalaureate
Graduating seniors are honored each year on the eve of Commencement at this event that includes a featured speaker, readings by students, musical selections, class reflections and a traditional ceremony of light, in which seniors share the flame of candles in a circle with classmates. A traditional continuation of the light is passed on to a representative of the rising senior class.
Strawberry Breakfast
Graduating seniors and their families enjoy a breakfast featuring strawberries and ice cream on the morning of Commencement, hosted by the Alumni Association.
Dinks
Freshmen are presented with a beanie, or dink, in their class color as a symbol of class unity.
Honor Code and Pledge
Every member of the campus community is bound by the Honor Code to act ethically and to respect the rights of others in both academic and campus life. New students sign an archival copy of the Honor Code Pledge and all students write the Pledge on their academic work: “I pledge that I have neither given nor received any unauthorized aid on this (assignment).”
Pergola
The Pergola, in the center of the campus and the center of the residential quadrangle, is seen as the point where all paths come together. A place for unity and peace, no harsh words are ever spoken under the wisteria covered structure; students are also careful to never split the poles when walking through with other friends, as this is believed to ensure friendship after graduation.
The Hood Hello
Hood has a reputation for being a friendly place. It is the custom at Hood to smile and greet everyone you meet on campus, whether or not you’ve been introduced. The smiles and friendly greetings add to the warmth of Hood.
Sophomore Emblem
Sophomores choose an official class emblem designed by one of their classmates. The emblem becomes the design for the embroidered class patch.
Class Banners
Beginning as freshmen, each class decorates a banner that is displayed in the Dining Hall, every year adding a symbol or design.
Columns So Fair
The four white pillars of Alumnae Hall, immortalized in the alma mater as “columns so fair,” are named Hope, Opportunity, Obligation and Democracy — the first letters spelling HOOD—and were dedicated by the Classes of 1915, 1916, 1917 and 1918.
Motto
Corde et Mente et Manu means Heart and Mind and Hand.
Alma Mater By Gertrude B. Hoy, Class of 1912
High tower above us,
thy columns so fair
Gleaming white
in their calm majesty;
Thus long have they battled
the wild storms of time
And will stand in the years
yet to be.
Though we wander afar from
thy sheltering walls,
Borne along on life’s rough
surging sea;
Yet our hearts, Alma Mater,
unchanging and true,
Will be loyal and faithful to thee.
Hood College, above thy dear,
green ivied walls,
How fond memories cluster
and twine,
There are friendships so golden
that bind us to thee,
Preparation for life, too, was thine.
May we never forget
the lessons so true
But honor and praise
thy dear name.
In our joys and our tears,
in our triumphs and fears
May our lives e’er be
worthy of thee.