Class Board 2022 postpones Hey Day to the fall in hopes of in-person celebration

The Class of 2022 will celebrate Hey Day in the fall instead of the spring, in hopes of being able to hold an in-person ceremony.

Hey Day is a Penn tradition, typically held in the spring, where juniors wear red shirts and hats, called skimmers, and carry canes as they proceed down Locust Walk to College Green, where Penn President Amy Gutmann pronounces them seniors. College junior and Class Board 2022 President Sam Strickberger announced the date change in an email to juniors on April 16.

Strickberger said Class Board 2022 voted unanimously to postpone Hey Day to make an in-person event as likely as possible. He added that while Class Board cannot promise the event will be held in person, postponing Hey Day makes an in-person event possible. If they were to hold Hey Day this spring, it would have to be held online.

“We don't know how much it will be in person, but we know that the likelihood is much higher, and that's the thing that we want,” Strickberger said.

Last year, the Class of 2021 celebrated Hey Day virtually with a video from Class Board 2021 and Gutmann. Members of the Class of 2021 told The Daily Pennsylvanian at the time that while they appreciated Class Board’s efforts, they were disappointed that the tradition had to be observed virtually.

Strickberger said Class Board 2022 and the Office of Student Affairs will work out logistics and a date for Hey Day, which has not yet been decided, this summer.

“The rest of the Class Board [and I] are 100% committed to ensuring that the Class of 2022 gets to enjoy as many Penn traditions as they can,” Strickberger said.

Juniors, although disappointed that they will not be able to celebrate Hey Day at the end of their junior year, expressed excitement at the possibility of an in-person celebration.

Wharton junior Nia Robinson, who is a DP podcast staff member, said she was disappointed that her class would not have a normal Hey Day at the end of junior year. Wharton junior Jessica Shen agreed, but added that she is glad that an in-person celebration is possible.

“It's just indicative of being a junior, having that passage into your final year,” Shen said.

Both Robinson and Shen said they expect that Hey Day will be able to take place in person this fall.

Shen said that because all students must be vaccinated for COVID-19 to return to campus this fall and the event will be outside, a fully in-person Hey Day should be possible.

“If they're at least going to do it in person in the fall, that's better than doing it virtually in the spring,” Robinson said.