St. John’s Traditions

St. John’s College is a place where students study the works of history’s greatest thinkers. Students in Annapolis and Santa Fe have established traditions that date back decades or longer, from signing the college register during their first day on campus to taking part in “senior prank” days before graduation. Students, called “Johnnies,” enjoy many of the same activities as their predecessors from years past. Learn more about our college history.

Watch how a Johnnie Chair—a St. 约翰学院的标志-可以改变生活. 下面是关于这些椅子的更多信息.

Tutors

St. John’s faculty members are called “tutors,” who lead classes across the liberal arts curriculum. 而不是作为内容专家或讲师, 导师引导讨论并充当模范学习者.

Funeral Games

In Santa Fe, freshmen celebrate the completion of their first reading—the Iliad—with the Funeral Games. After finishing Homer’s epic, toga-clad Johnnies reenact the glorious contests at the funeral of Patroclus, including tug-of-war, wheelbarrow races, and more.

召集及签署登记册

The entire freshman class and new Graduate Institute students are part of Convocation, 在此期间，他们每个人都在学院注册簿上签名, 与校长握手，并收到一本在课堂上使用的书.

Ptolemy Stone

A Ptolemy Stone is an ancient device for measuring the angle of the sun compared to the earth, 什么是许多导航设备如六分仪的基础. 两个校区都有一座托勒密石.

Waltz Parties

两个校区都有活跃的华尔兹委员会. These dance enthusiasts hold dance lessons and host waltz parties, featuring many different themes. 课程定期举行，可能包括荡秋千, waltz, polka, 林迪舞和其他风格取决于一年中的时间.

Prizes (for essays and others)

At the end of the year, 每个班(新生)每年都会有一篇论文获奖, sophomore, 初级和高级)以及原始翻译, original scientific experiments, original poetry, 原创艺术作品和原创数学证明.

Senior Prank

At the end of every school year, seniors perform skits, 播放视频，在校园里举办全天的野餐和派对. 

Softball

Each spring on the Santa Fe campus, students will challenge other classes to softball games. There is also a faculty/staff vs. student softball game.

Senior Oral

高年级学生提交论文后, they each have an oral examination with three members of the faculty using their paper as the foundation. This is a public event; friends, family, peers, coworkers, and even people from town can come and observe this hour-long oral exam.

Futbalito

室内足球:用稍小的球进行的室内足球, 在圣达菲的校园里，几乎每天都有人踢足球, 通常每年至少有一场比赛.

Axolotls

除了是学校的非官方吉祥物之一, 蝾螈生活在两个校区的实验室里, where they are observed in association with some of the readings of freshman lab.

Homerathon

在这个传统中，学生们大声朗读 Odyssey or the Iliad (通常每年交替进行), 从早上开始，到深夜结束.

The Swing

在蒙特索尔圣达菲校区的半路上, Johnnies for years have taken in a beautiful view from a wooden swing hung from a tree.

Reality

A party held the weekend after the last full week of classes each year, Reality features skits, videos, 跳舞和一般的聚会气氛. 包括斯巴达足球在内的体育运动也在这里进行.

Nabla

圣达菲的导师和高年级学生经常为Nabla聚会, a tradition meant to ease the transition to adulthood and the professional ranks.

Intramurals

Students, staff and faculty on each campus are assigned to an intramural sports team. 两队在多个项目上互相比赛, including Ultimate Frisbee, soccer, basketball, “reasonball,” handball and volleyball.

Kunai

This sports league in Annapolis was founded and named by some of the women of St. John’s. Women and non-cis gendered polity members can participate in Kunai and intramural sports.

Athletic Blazer

Athletic blazers with the St. John’s seal are awarded to students based on participation and performance. Special blazers are also passed down to two individual rising seniors each year, 由校内和国足队长投票选出. In addition, two members of the graduating senior class are awarded a blazer at commencement for participation, leadership and sportsmanship.

Observing Plants

In the fall, members of freshman lab classes are often seen outside taking notes on and making sketches of local flora as part of their study of biology. In Annapolis, it’s the magnolia. In Santa Fe, where it is known as “conifer lab,“学生们前往滑雪盆地收集各种样本, study them, draw them, 然后为它们设计一个分类系统.

Lola’s

洛拉的派对每年都以“赌场”为主题. 虽然没有赌博的钱, students dress in sharp outfits and play games of chance with volunteer dealers.

Cotillion

Cotillion is a spring formal hosted by the Waltz Committee after croquet on the Annapolis campus. Traditionally strawberries and cream are served at midnight, and a live band is hired. If the croquet team is victorious, 球队成员通常会带着安纳波利斯杯隆重入场.

Catching Fish

During freshman lab, students observe fish as part of their study of biology. In Annapolis, freshmen often head down to College Creek armed with nets to catch fish for further observation in tanks in the classrooms.

Senior Day

老年人经常表演原创音乐, 或者他们认为与他们的班级相关的作品, 毕业前送给同学和家人.

Student Committee on Instruction

The Student Committee on Instruction (SCI) holds forums throughout the year on academic life at St. John’s, meeting with the faculty Instruction Committee at least once a year. The SCI also hosts the all-college seminar and hosts extracurricular seminar series.

Senior Dinner

每年为高年级学生和教职员工举行正式晚宴, at which the president, dean, 全体教职员工和多位大四学生敬酒. A toast traditionally given at the dinner is a “toast to the four republics”—to the Republic of the United States of America, the Republic of St. 约翰学院，柏拉图的《理想国》和《文学界.

Core Groups

每节课由两到六名学生组成. Core groups often become good friends and rely on each other for academic support.

Take a Tutor to Lunch

The take-a-tutor-to-lunch program allows students to sign tutors into lunch on campus for free, 学生是否在膳食计划中. Beyond the formal program, tutors and students will often meet for coffee or lunch off campus.

欢迎派对:阿喀琉斯狂欢和黑白舞会

Parties to kick off the school year are held on each campus to welcome freshmen. In Santa Fe, there is the Black and White Ball and in Annapolis is the “Achilles Rager”—a nod to the rage of Achilles in Homer's Iliad.

Athenian Reasonball

理智球就像旗帜橄榄球，有很多额外的规则, including the fairness rule, which ensures that the losing team is always given possession after a score, no matter which team scores. 球员可以尽可能多地向前传球, 不管他们离争球线有多近.

Intramural Draft

On the Annapolis campus, an intramural draft is held each year in which rising sophomores are drafted to each intramural team.

Mascots

虽然学院没有官方吉祥物, it does have a few unofficial ones—the most prominent being the axolotl and the platypus.

Guerilla Seminars

Small, often informally organized seminars on particular works are often held with a small group of students and no tutor, 虽然有时会有导师参加.