Trumpets blaring. Men and women clad in medieval costumes. Figgie pudding and apple cider served in beer steins.
On Thursday, December 1, the University of Rochester goes back in time with the annual Boar’s Head Dinner, a tradition that began in 1934. This year’s event starts at 7 p.m. in the newly renovated Meliora Ballroom in Frederick Douglass Commons.
“This is just a fun student-owned event for us to enjoy each other’s company,” says Matthew Burns, the dean of students. Burns has attended the dinner for the past 15 years and always wears his favorite “English lord” attire while sitting at the high table.
A longstanding Rochester tradition, this pre-holiday feast consistently draws more than 500 people and sells out in a day.
Before the tradition began, there was an annual College Night Dinner. But a group of students suggested replacing that event with a boar’s head banquet, inspired by a 16th-century Oxford University legend. According to that legend, a Queens College scholar was walking through the woods when he was attacked by a wild boar. A student passed by and thrust a copy of a work by Aristotle down the boar’s throat, killing him. The gala banquet was instituted by the college to celebrate the student’s triumph and the scholar’s survival.
The University accepted the idea, and the Boar’s Head Dinner has been held every year since, except for 1943 to 1945, when it was suspended due to World War II.
The first dinners were held at Todd Union. The dining hall was decorated in the manner of an English Great Hall, with long tables set up on either side of a wide center aisle, for the procession.
The winter feast was an all-male event until 1970, when women were admitted to the dinner for the first time as beer maids serving thirsty singers and guests. The following year, the Women’s Caucus petitioned to give women equal access to the event. The petition was accepted, and since then, the Boar’s Head Dinner has been a coed event.
“The most interesting thing is to meet the people and see them dress up in costumes,” says Heather Maclin, the assistant director of student activity programs. “It’s very unique. I’d never witnessed anything like this before I came to this institution.”
This year’s dinner started with the traditional trumpet fanfare and introduction of High Table Lords and Ladies. Several University a cappella groups—After Hours, Midnight Ramblers, Vocal Point, and the YellowJackets—sang together while the food was served in the order of soup, entrée (roast pork and turkey), and dessert. The dessert consisted of sample sizes of different types so that diners could try out various options. Student hosts tended to the tables, making sure the food was abundant.
Among the highlights of the evening is a retelling of the Boar’s Head legend by a member of the faculty. This year, English professor and novelist Joanna Scott presented “The Reading of the Boar” with her own twist to the story.
Another highlight is the announcement of the Boar’s Head winner for outstanding student organization. Each year, the previous year’s winning organization selects the new honoree. For decades, the Boar’s Head—literally, in accordance with tradition—was passed from one Greek organization to the next. Delta Upsilon broke tradition in 1996 by choosing to recognize the Social Activities Board. The Black Students’ Union received the prize last year and named the Douglass Leadership House as the 2016 winner.
In addition to the boar’s head and the honor of naming the next year’s winner, the chosen organization receives a monetary gift.
The selection and announcement of the Boar’s Head winner underscores the ways in which the event establishes connections—from one group of students to the next, and one generation to the next.
Burns thinks about the students who enjoyed this dinner 82 years ago. “This tradition binds you to every other person who ever walked down this campus before,” he says.
(University photo / Yiyun Huang ’18)
