Williston Northampton School - Williston Traditions

Williston Traditions

The weekly Williston assembly is the site of many school traditions. Most of the Tuesday gatherings are for general announcements and presentations by both outside speakers and by students, often addressing their peers as part of class assignments. However, there are four special awards assemblies per year: one for each of the three sports seasons and one for academic awards. Another assembly marks the induction of accepted seniors into the Cum Laude Society. Seniors in the top 10% of their class are eligible; this is the highest academic honor the school confers.

At the last assembly of the year, the graduating seniors (seated at the front of the chapel) traditionally leave first, the juniors fill their places, and so on as each class files downward, signifying their move to a new grade.

Also familiar to many graduates of a particular era is the annual “Do Good Well” speech, given each year at an assembly by the recipient of the Robert A. Ward Medal. The quote was a particular favorite of Robert Frost, handed down from Headmaster Robert Ward by way of the story of a small child asking Frost if one should “do good” or “do well”, to which Frost replied that one should "do good well." The Ward Medal is given by The Alumni Council to a member of the Williston Northampton community who has made significant contributions to their communities through volunteerism and humanitarian service.

Male Varsity and Junior Varsity athletes will go beyond the normal dress code on game days and wear a tie and jacket at the discretion of the team's captains or head coach. Female Varsity athletes will periodically wear obviously and outrageously clashing outfits on game days. Game day dress in winter has been known to involve summer dresses with sunglasses and totes. Female game day dress is typically enforced by team captains and not team coaches in contrast to male game day dress enforcement.

By far one of the most ubiquitous and enduring traditions at the Williston Northampton School is the painting of the school lion. At least several times a year, boarding students sneak out of their dorms (breaking the strict curfew regulations) or day students sneak back to campus late at night and spray paint the statue of a lion on the center of campus. These art projects sometimes have a theme, such as the patriotic colors the lion displayed for the entire fall semester following the events of September 11, 2001, but more often, probably due to time constraints imposed by the necessity of remaining unseen, they are simply random colors. Occasionally the lion is painted in response to disciplinary action by the school's disciplinary committee, especially expulsions.

Still another tradition at the school is ringing the victory bell after winning an athletic event. Usually the whole team will run up from the field and ring the bell multiple times if it was a good game. The whole campus can hear the bell from where it is stationed between Reed Hall and the dining hall.