Seniors Confused Over Lack of ‘Walk-in’

By LIVIA WOOD ‘19

Every year, seniors swarm the squeaky floor of the ACC during the first Monday morning of the year and run wild in ridiculous getups to the pumping base of a Top 40. One dorm parades around in animal onesies; a group of friends pushes each other back and forth on a makeshift go-kart; a pack of day students imitate the cast of their favorite TV show. The event is utterly chaotic and sometimes a little bit disturbing, but ‘senior walk-in’ is a long-standing tradition—it’s a chance for seniors to kick off the school year in a fun way and show some pride for their dorms and class. Walk-in provides seniors with a break from the stress of senior fall, and it offers underclassmen a unique, energetic experience to eagerly anticipate. However, the current seniors haven’t yet gotten a walk-in, despite pushback from students who insist that it’s a rite of passage.

According to Mr. Tyler and Ms. Engstrom, the Senior Class Deans, the lack of walk-in is due to a scheduling issue: walk-in usually takes place during the first Monday assembly after convocation but because students had that Monday off for Rosh Hashanah, it couldn’t occur. Engstrom does say that the Deans are working on a “walk-in like experience,” but students are not optimistic about the outcome—almost 85% of seniors polled think that this promised walk-in like event will never materialize. Some feel robbed of their chance to engage in this senior ritual—Amy Shohet ’19 calls walk-in “the first show of unity of the senior class” and feels that it was unfairly taken away. However, some seniors don’t love the idea of walk-in. Evan Jenness ’19 says that “everyone is looking at [the seniors]” and he “doesn’t know what to dress up as,” and Parker Hitt ’19 argues that it can fuel the boarder versus day student divide. Beyond personal opinions surrounding walk-in, students have raised concerns over the legitimacy of scheduling alone ousting the event.

Charlotte Moremen ’19 questions the scheduling excuse, asking “why [we couldn’t] have just done it on a following Monday assembly?” Similarly, Christine Char ’19, attributes the absence of walk-in to pushback from faculty who dislike the tradition. When I ask Engstrom about the potential faculty opposition to walk-in, she tells me that while there has been no organized obstruction from teachers she and others have questioned the point of walk-in; she says the first time she witnessed walk-in she “didn’t understand the significance of the costumes, why [she] was required to watch it, and how it could be meant to build community.” Her answer presents a point of tension between faculty tired of the custom and students championing it.

Regardless of the real reason for the lack of walk-in, most students are disappointed—almost 75% of seniors report that they want a walk-in. Walk-in seems to most like a harmless celebration of the senior class, and seniors hope that its cancellation isn’t indicative of this year’s trajectory.

Milton Paper