Lantern Night at Bryn Mawr College

Lantern Night at Bryn Mawr College

Mid-November

Traditions help build a feeling of community at Bryn Mawr, a women's college near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where the induction ceremony of Lantern Night has welcomed freshwomen since the late 1880s. The ceremony takes place in the courtyard of the Cloisters, a quadrangle with a pond at the center. The first-year students process into the courtyard, and the sophomores place candlelit lanterns behind each one. Upperclass women sing a hymn in ancient Greek to the goddess of wisdom, Athena, and freshwomen respond in kind. The ceremony in the Cloisters is followed by a step-sing, in which the students of all classes gather together for fellowship and the singing of lighthearted songs outside of Taylor Hall, on the administration building's steps.

CONTACTS:
Bryn Mawr College
101 N. Merion Ave.
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
610-526-5000; fax: 610-526-7471
www.brynmawr.edu

SOURCES:
FolkAmerHol-1999, p. 415