Springfield College Celebrates 90th Stepping Up Day

Springfield College hosted the 90th Annual Stepping Up Day Ceremony on Thursday, April 21, 2016 on Naismith Green in front of Marsh Memorial. With Stepping Up Day, the first-year students take a step up, sophomores become juniors, juniors become seniors, and seniors become alumni.

The spring of 1926 saw the first Stepping Up Day, which replaced the old "Decapitation Day" exercises, when the freshmen were allowed to remove their green beanies.

This year's ceremony started with remarks from Student Government Association President Ryan Carrie '17, and Springfield College President Mary-Beth Cooper.

President Cooper also led the swearing in of Student Trustee Troy Ward '17, Graduate Student Organization President Manjunath Burdekar '18, and Student Government Association President Kyle Andolina '17.

As part of the Stepping Up Ceremony, class presidents, Maggie O'Rourke '16, Stuart Sokoloff '17, Brittany Sullivan '18, and Cheyenne Patrie '19 pass along the Lamp of Humanics.

New to this year's ceremony was the presentation of the following awards:

Outstanding first-year student - Aarin Feliz

Outstanding sophomore - Madeline McDougall

Outstanding junior - Marnae Mawdsley

Outstanding senior - Paige Moran

Class of '57 Outstanding Senior Leadership Chair - Mohammed Rashwan

Outstanding Graduate Student - Deanna Avdoulos