The Executive Committee plans to launch a Speaking Tradition Committee to bolster the decades-long custom of saying “hey” to others on campus.
EC President Meaghan Endres, ’26, was approached by professors and students who had concerns about the negative impact technology has had on the Speaking Tradition, she said.
“It kind of felt like people were looking down at their phones and had their AirPods in,” Endres said. “They were not observing the tradition as much as they maybe should have.”
But Endres says she doesn’t think the Speaking Tradition has died.
“I think it’s facing some modern challenges that require some modern solutions,” she said.
Kathekon, a student organization dedicated to improving student-alumni relations, sponsors a “Say Hey Day” twice a year to strengthen the Speaking Tradition, according to the university’s website.
Kathekon member Rebecca Vaught, ’27, said she agrees that the tradition has shifted with the uptick in technology use.
“But I think there’s something with just the fact that you still look each other in the eyes,” Vaught said. “The culture is very different here than it is at any big university.”
But Cindy Xie, ’26, said she’s less optimistic.
“I definitely think it has died in my four years here. In my freshman year, I think a lot of people were taking part in the tradition, and now as a senior, I feel like I barely see it,” Xie said. “It’s more comfortable for people to not engage in the Speaking Tradition.”
For Melisa Grigorescu, ’29, the tradition hasn’t lived up to its reputation.
“Just hearing about the tradition and how strong it used to be, I do think that it has been negatively impacted,” she said.
Vaught said individual students who are passionate about the speaking tradition help to keep it alive.
“I think back to a student who graduated last year,” Vaught said. “He was someone who was always going out of his way to say, ‘Hey, how are you doing?’ to every single person he passed.”
Endres said she hopes the Speaking Tradition Committee will sponsor events around campus, advertise through posters and encourage people to practice the tradition as much as possible.
The application for the committee will be the same as other EC applications, Endres said. There will be three questions and a 10-minute interview.
“I’m hoping that the committee will have at least one person from every undergraduate grade … and from all the law school classes,” Endres said. “Hopefully it’ll be a committee of about nine, with a chair.”
She said she’s looking for sociable people who are passionate about the tradition, are involved on campus and have many connections to the student body.
Endres said she wants the committee to make campus an even friendlier, more sociable and kinder place than it already is. She hopes the committee will encourage students to be even more connected, she said.
“Getting people involved and talking about it is the best way to make it better,” Endres said. “That’s my motto with the Honor System.”
The EC sent out the application form for the Speaking Tradition Committee to the student body by email on Wednesday night. Applications are due by Feb. 17 at 3 p.m., and the EC will hold interviews on the same day at 5:30 p.m.
