Photo Provided By: Creighton Ward
Lantern Night, perhaps the most meaningful tradition at Bryn Mawr College, took place last weekend on a cool, clear Sunday night. The tradition symbolizes the light of knowledge that is passed down from one class to another. The ceremony requires the first-years to learn a song in Greek, wear black robes, and congregate in the unlit cloisters of Thomas Great Hall to receive their lanterns.
The week and weekend leading up to Lantern Night was particulaarly busy for my friends and I. I had unfortunately missed every rehearsal for the song and the ceremony, so when it came time to perform, I felt utterly lost. But as I waited outside TGH, surrounded by my best friends, the nervous energy dissipated and the excitement began to build. We were dressed in dark robes with long sleeves that probably would have made us look like, to uninitiated onlookers, members of a cult.
When the ceremony began, I remember catching a glimpse of my friend Sophia, who is tall and beautiful and unmistakable, across from me as we were silently marshaled into the cloisters. I reached out a hand to her and we gave each other a little wave before parting. Once we filed into the courtyard, I was struck by how much the building really did remind me of Hogwarts. Bryn Mawr is very frequently described as looking Hogwartsian, but I never realized it as much as I did on Lantern Night. The rest of the night went smoothly, even though I knew so little of the Sophias and none of the steps we were supposed to follow. Seeing the faint green glow of my classmates’ lanterns all around me while I waited to claim my own gave me a sense of belonging like nothing else had before. In the cloisters, I thought about the thousands of people who took part in the same ceremony before I did. Upon receiving my lantern, I finally felt like Bryn Mawr had left its mark on me, and I had left mine on Bryn Mawr.
I can’t give away all the details surrounding our second tradition of the year (you’ll just have to come to find out the rest!) but I can say that it convinced me that Bryn Mawr is a very, very special place. Truly, no other college does it like Bryn Mawr does.