May Day 2019
Saturday, May 4, 2019
An important part of graduation weekend is the May Day ceremony, one of Bluffton’s oldest traditions, which began in 1910. It intertwines the past with alumni reunions, the present by honoring this year's graduates, and the future when honored first-year students perform the traditional Maypole dance.
Activities include a May Day 5k and Nature Preserve Walk and the May Day Musical. You are invited to participate in any and all May Day events.
THE BOX OFFICE is open weekdays from 8a.m.-11 p.m. and is located at the Information Desk in Marbeck Center, or purchase tickets for meals, the musical and register for the May Day 5k and Nature Preserve Walk online at http://tickets.bluffton.edu .
2019 SCHEDULE
Friday, May 3
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. - Annual Juried Student Exhibition - Sauder Visual Arts Center
4 p.m. - Class of '69 reception and dinner - Marbeck Center
4:30 p.m. - Class of '79 reception and dinner - Sommer Center
7:30 p.m. - May Day Musical, Guys and Dolls - Founders Hall
Saturday, May 4
7 a.m. - Registration for May Day 5k and Nature Preserve Walk - Salzman Stadium
8 a.m. - May Day 5k and Nature Preserve Walk - Salzman Stadium
9 a.m. - Cross country and track alumni reception - Sommer Center
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. - Annual Juried Student Exhibition - Sauder Visual Arts Center
9:30 a.m. - Alumni choir sing & Student honors recital - Yoder Recital Hall
9:30-11:30 a.m. - Guided campus tours every 30 minutes - Kiva, Marbeck Center
10:30-11:15 a.m. - Music department reception - Mosiman Hall
11:30 to 1 p.m. - Lunch for graduates, alumni, family and friends - The Commons, Marbeck Center
1:30 p.m. - May Day ceremony - Centennial Hall lawn
2:30 p.m. - Class of 2019 reception - Centennial Hall lawn
2:30 p.m. - Ultimate Frisbee - Alumni Field
2:30-4 p.m. - Science and mathematics reception for alumni and graduates/families - Shoker Science Center
2:30-4:30 p.m. - Guided campus tours every 30 minutes - Kiva, Marbeck Center
5:30 p.m. - Pi Delta Society Banquet - The Commons, Marbeck Center
Sunday, May 5
10:30 a.m. - Baccalaureate - Founders Hall
11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. - Lunch buffet - The Commons, Marbeck Center
1-5 p.m. - Annual Juried Student Exhibition - Sauder Visual Arts Center
2 p.m. - Commencement - Sommer Center
HIGHLIGHTS OF MAY DAY 2019 INCLUDE:
MAY DAY MUSICAL
Guys and Dolls
A musical based off of "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" and "Blood Pressure" by Damon Runyon.
A bet is made in New York to finance a crap game. The gambler is challenged to take a female missionary on a date to Havana. The two unintentionally fall for each other.
MAY DAY RUN/WALK
A 5k race/Nature Preserve walk sponsored by the Bluffton University Alumni Association
with support from Bluffton Hospital. Register early to reserve your tech-fabric shirt.
Medals awarded to top three finishers in each age/gender bracket. Trophies awarded
to fastest male and fastest female.
ANNUAL JURIED STUDENT EXHIBITION
This exhibit showcases work created by all Bluffton University students in the arts
programs in a variety of mediums including ceramics, drawing, painting, photography,
printmaking and sculpture.
ALUMNI CHOIR SING/STUDENT HONORS RECITAL AND RECEPTION
A highlight of May Day is when former Bluffton choir/chorale members gather and revisit
their favorite choral pieces. We will intersperse some solo performance pieces by
our best music students. A reception follows in the Gilliom Room. The alumni choir
will gather again to sing "The Lord Bless You and Keep You" to close the May Day ceremony.
CLASS REUNIONS AND LUNCH
A great time to reminisce with old friends. Let us know if you have inspired a large
group of your classmates to attend this lunch so we can reserve some tables for you!
11:30-1 Saturday
MAY DAY CEREMONY
This event celebrates the end of an academic year, the beginning of a new chapter
for graduates and the remembrance of times past for alumni. It includes the colorful
Maypole dance performed by first-year students, crowning of the queen and king and
recognition of graduating seniors.
1:30 p.m. Saturday
PI DELTA SOCIETY
The 2019 Pi Delta Annual Banquet will be held in the Commons at 5:30 p.m. Saturday
History
Bluffton students, parents and alumni celebrate May Day each year on an early May weekend. This celebration includes alumni reunions, graduation events and student activities.
The May Day tradition at Bluffton University dates back to 1910 and continues to feature the Maypole dance, perhaps the most spectacular event of the weekend.
Each year, 16 first-year students, eight men and eight women, are chosen to dance the Maypole dance. The dance takes place around a large pole. The dancers, wearing colorful, Germanic-style costumes, encircle the pole. Then each couple in turn grabs two streamers that are hung from the top of the pole. The dancers proceed to weave the streamers around the pole. When the dancers have wound their streamers part way down the pole, the weaving stops and each couple is reunited.
May Day celebrations were once popular across the United States at many colleges and
universities. However, they are now rare.
May Day celebrations date back to 238 B.C. in Rome. The Roman holiday was a celebration of the goddess Flora and the coming of spring. In England, May Day was a celebration of flowers and the coming of spring after a cold winter. The May Day dance represented the joy of the coming of spring and the streamers represented the rays of the sun.
At Bluffton the May Day celebration represents the end of a school year for students, the beginning of a new chapter for seniors and the remembrance of times past for alumni. The tradition weaves together past, present and future around the Maypole in a never-ending circle.