SPECIAL VIDEO: A Historical Perspective of Torch Night

Guest Column (with photos)

A few weeks ago, I was asked to find out if Torch Night was still considered relevant. Instead of approaching this by asking different people’s opinions, I decided to think about what this event means to me as a senior.

Torch Night is an age-old tradition at SHU. It involves a graduating student and an underclassman. In the ceremony, the graduating senior passes a lit candle, a torch, to a student of their choosing. The underclassman has a rose. The two make the exchange in a long line down the center of Saint Dominic Chapel while friends and family watch. For the ceremony, the graduates wear their caps and gowns.

Torch Night is meant to be very symbolic for all students involved. The candle represents the light of truth and the “torch” of learning while the rose represents the Dominican symbol of friendship. The graduate chooses the underclassman of their choice to carry on their legacy at SHU. The ceremony is usually performed the day of Convocation and a week before graduation.

Since my freshman year at SHU, Torch Night has always been something that I wanted to participate in. As a sophomore, I finally had the opportunity to carry on someone’s legacy. I was asked to carry the torch of Theatre/Speech Communications major Tricia Stankiewicz. Tricia was one of the first people I met at SHU during Welcome Week and we went on to become great friends. Before she asked me to carry her torch, she became my big in the National Theatre Honors Fraternity, Alpha Psi Omega. I remember being so excited to carry on her legacy because she inspired me, and continues to inspire me, to be the best possible version of myself.

I still remember what I was like sitting in St. Dominic’s and watching the slideshow, hearing the singers and speakers, and finally getting to stand across from Tricia as we exchanged the symbolic items through tears. That night made a lasting impression on our friendship and I only hope that I have been able to make her proud in my time at SHU.

Coming into my senior year, I knew that I wanted to participate in Torch Night. The trick was deciding exactly who I wanted to carry my torch. I quickly realized that it is an insane amount of pressure to ask someone to carry your torch. There are a million reasons why that person could say no. Thankfully, I embraced the possibility of rejection and asked anyway. I am proud to say that I will be passing on my legacy to another Theatre/Speech Communications major, my little in Alpha Psi Omega and best friend.

In my years at SHU, I will have had the privilege of being a Torch Night participator on both ends. I will have carried on the legacy of the person who torched me as well as passed on a legacy of my own. As I sit in St. Dominic’s on Friday, most likely in tears, I will be reminded of the others who have come before me and I will feel more connected with SHU’s rich past.

This Torch Night is especially significant because it has 62 graduates participating, one of the largest to date. This event will always be relevant as long as there are students who want to participate and pass on their “torch” to the people who deserve them.

Photos by Elise Hardcastle

In the Torch Night ceremony, the graduating senior passes a lit candle, a torch, to a student of their choosing. The underclassman has a rose. The two make the exchange in a long line down the center of Saint Dominic Chapel.

Sarah Alpaugh and Alissa Reeder share a moment at the 2014 Torch Night ceremony.

Torch Night goes back decades on the Siena Heights campus.