Traditions
Traditions of the college include:
- Bonfire and Homecoming Court
Held in early October, Homecoming Week consists of a formal welcoming of the alumni, a homecoming soccer game and a competition between classes. Some of the competition activities include class cheers, class comedian competitions and the Hunk Contest. A bonfire is always held (drought-permitting) as a capstone event.
- Day of the Dead
Every year on November 2nd, the Coker College Culture Club hosts a Day of the Dead event that is free and open to the community. Students build altars in honor of their deceased loved ones, light candles, tell stories of their memories of the dead, and enjoy excellent food.
- Winter Formal
A recent addition to campus traditions, the Winter Formal dance is held at the Hartsville Country Club.
- C.O.W. Days
The Coker Olympics of Winter is a weeklong event held beginning the first weekend in February. Events include the hotwing eating contest, tug-o-war and the ever-popular musical water buckets. Competition is arranged by class (school year), and the winner earns the highly coveted title of C.O.W. Days Champions.
- Crew Race
Each Spring at the Sory Boathouse on Prestwood Lake (just blocks from Coker's campus), teams made up of sister classes race across the lake in canoes. Teams practice for weeks ahead of time to continue a tradition that dates back to 1919.
- Late-Night Breakfast
Just before finals each semester, the faculty and staff cook a free, late-night breakfast for resident students studying for their final exams. Aramark Corporation donates the food, and the college's employees provide the free labor. This popular event is attended by the majority of resident students.
- Coffee at the Courtyard
During Fall and Spring semesters, in front of Davidson Hall at 9:15 AM every Thursday morning, Coker provides students, staff and faculty with free coffee, hot chocolate, juice and pastries. A brief ceremony is usually held to honor people's recent accomplishments, but the main benefit is a chance to chat and socialize with people outside one's normal sphere. The Evening School has a similar program, but it only happens once a semester.
- BandFest
One of the students' favorite events is BandFest, a concert festival consisting of bands invited from around the country. BandFest usually lasts for an entire evening.
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Famous quotes containing the word traditions:
“Napoleon never wished to be justified. He killed his enemy according to Corsican traditions [le droit corse] and if he sometimes regretted his mistake, he never understood that it had been a crime.”
—Guillaume-Prosper, Baron De Barante (1782–1866)
“... the more we recruit from immigrants who bring no personal traditions with them, the more America is going to ignore the things of the spirit. No one whose consuming desire is either for food or for motor-cars is going to care about culture, or even know what it is.”
—Katharine Fullerton Gerould (1879–1944)
“And all the great traditions of the Past
They saw reflected in the coming time.
And thus forever with reverted look
The mystic volume of the world they read,
Spelling it backward, like a Hebrew book,
Till life became a Legend of the Dead.”
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1809–1882)