Hey Day festivities just got cheaper. On April 30, Penn’s campus will be swarmed for the 100th time by hat-biting, cane-wielding juniors as they take over Locust Walk in celebration — all for just $20.
This year marks the 100th observance of Hey Day, a Penn tradition commemorating the Junior Class’s transition into senior year with quirky customs like donning hats and canes while marching across Locust Walk. In an unprecedented move to make Hey Day more accessible and affordable, the 2016 Class Board decreased the cost of participating from $35 to $20 — a 43 percent price drop. In addition, tickets can be bought online for the first time ever.
In honor of Hey Day’s 100th observance, campus will be filled with centennial-themed decorations and juniors will receive a commemorative T-shirt.
The decision to cut prices came after the 2016 Class Board conducted a survey of about 1,500 students and found that many students thought $35 was too much to pay, and that 1 in 5 students couldn’t afford the ticket cost.
“The approval rating for paying $35 was nine percent, which is [even] lower than [the approval rating for] Congress,” President of the 2016 Class Board Jesus Perez said.
After adjusting the budget and conducting fundraisers, the Class Board will offer a complete package including the hat, cane, class shirt and a picnic lunch for $20. This is a discount compared to previous years’ pricing schemes, which offered the complete package for $35 and bundles consisting of select items for various prices.
The Class Board was able to cover some of the costs of decreasing prices by generating a $21,000 profit from selling Classic Ivy P sweaters for $35 last semester. Hey Day usually costs about $50,000 in total, but the Junior Class Board hopes to reduce costs to $45,000 this year. Furthermore, the board is lowering costs by switching supplies — this year’s canes will be made of bamboo like they were in the 1990s.
“This is something we’ve been working on for over a year and a half ... these are changes that seem small but take a lot of behind-the-scenes work to achieve,” Perez said.
Executive Vice President of the 2016 Class Board Allie Cohen agrees. She said that the other three class boards contributed to these changes because it was such a large undertaking. She and Perez believe that the price adjustment will help more juniors to fully partake in and enjoy a hallmark of the Penn undergraduate experience.
“We want to take away the financial burden so that students can focus on what’s important,” Cohen said. “Celebration and marking a milestone.”
A previous version of this article said that the Undergraduate Assembly reduced the price of Hey Day from $35 to $20. Rather, the 2016 Class Board orchestrated the price decrease. A previous version of this article also referenced a "special gift" to be given to juniors on Hey Day, but this was inaccurate. The DP regrets the errors.
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