As the spring semester wraps up, graduation for the class of 2024 looms in the near future. It’s a bittersweet moment for this beloved class as they enjoy their last weeks as students at the University. Various activities and events are planned for the end of the year to celebrate the seniors and their time at the University. 

For example, one may notice the game of senior assassins picking up. Players must kill their assigned target by spraying them with a water gun. All members of the senior class were encouraged to participate for the chance of being the last one standing, winning a cash prize and a gift card. 

The senior class officers and the Office of Student Involvement (OSI) have also planned many Senior Week activities that will take place from May 21 through 23, including a senior prom in Olin Library, a backyard BBQ on Fountain Avenue, and a team obstacle course. 

“It’s so much fun to finally get to take part in all the senior events after watching my friends enjoy them the past few years,” Quinn Meinhardt ’24 said. “I’m sure it’ll be such a fun spring!” 

To see more information about senior events and updates on the senior assassin game, follow @seniorclasswes24 on Instagram. 

Considering all the celebrations ahead of us, let’s now look back to some of the most iconic traditions in the University lore. 

Tour de Franzia 

On May 4, 2010, The Argus published not one, but two, articles featuring the tradition in which many seniors would participate called the Tour de Franzia. Inspired by the annual biking race—Tour de France—the Tour de Franzia features a strange mix of scavenger hunting, costume wearing, and drinking Franzia boxed wine. 

One article entitled “Tour de Franzia: A Cherished and Environmentally Responsible Event,” written by then-Contributing Writer Rose Pierson ’12 on May 4, 2010, described the chaotic but very enjoyable event. 

“For this annual event, costume-wearing participants form groups of three and have to document themselves drinking from their team box of Franzia at ten or more locations around campus,” Pierson wrote. “This year’s list included at/in a fountain, in your freshman dorm, on a stranger’s shoulders, the highest point on campus, the ST lab, Neon Deli, Micheal Roth’s house, and Mocon.” 

While this annual activity brought lots of spirit to campus, it also raised many health and safety concerns. In another article published on May 4, 2010, “Tour de Franzia: Wesleyan Floods Local Emergency Room,” then-News Editor Amanda Schwartz ’12 explained a different take on the event. 

“On the night of Friday, April 23, Wesleyan’s annual wine-drinking scavenger hunt, Tour de Franzia, sent at least nine students to the emergency room according to Public Safety (PSafe) Awareness Report,” Schwartz wrote. 

Then-Director of Public Safety David Meyer went on to explain the University’s response to the partying. 

“September, October, April, and May are our busiest months, but the behavior of the students is becoming pretty unacceptable,” Meyer said in the article. “Lately there have been some serious issues where people are coming close to getting arrested.”

After 2010, the University continued its efforts to limit the event. At one point the administration even contacted parents of University students to tell their kids not to participate.

Eventually, the Tour de Franzia did come to a close, but there are talks of a return this spring…

Senior Cocktails 

In past years, senior cocktails has been a traditional school-sponsored event where the University buses seniors over 21 to a venue for drinks, dancing, and bonding. 

But let’s just say things got a little out of hand in 2013. 

In the Feb. 21, 2013 article, “Senior Event ‘Pathetic,’ ‘Embarrassing,’ Says Roth,” then-Staff Writer Millie Dent ’15 unpacked the senior cocktail party at the Connecticut Science Center which ended early because of unmannerly behavior.

“The Connecticut Science Center has declined to comment on exactly what events occurred on Feb. 15, though media sources and students report drug use and sex in museum bathrooms, spilled beverages, vomit, and one student allegedly climbing an animatronic dinosaur,” Dent wrote. 

In the University’s official statement on the incident, there were mentions of a student riding a dinosaur and another continuously falling down the up escalator.  

President Micheal Roth ’78 also expressed deep disapproval of what occurred to The Argus at the time.

“You think things are going well, and students are learning, engaging, and participating in society, and then some people act like tiny children who have been injected with strange substances,” Roth said in the article.

At the time, this senior event gained widespread media attention, including articles written by Business Insider, The Atlantic, and Barstool Sports. 

All in all, senior spring is a special time for the campus to come together and celebrate the graduating class who we will miss dearly. As seen through past Argus articles, the University has a riveting history of senior traditions and events. We can’t wait to see what’s in store for this year and years to come. 

 

Maggie Smith can be reached at mssmith@wesleyan.edu.

“From the Argives” is a column that explores The Argus’ archives (Argives) and any interesting, topical, poignant, or comical stories that have been published in the past. Given The Argus’ long history on campus and the ever-shifting viewpoints of its student body, the material, subject matter, and perspectives expressed in the archived article may be insensitive or outdated, and do not reflect the views of any current member of The Argus. If you have any questions about the original article or its publication, please contact Head Archivists Sida Chu at schu@wesleyan.edu and Maggie Smith at mssmith@wesleyan.edu.