On Thursday night, the college process came to a symbolic end for the Class of 2008. All sixth-formers have received their decision letters by now, and, as this year will go down as the most competitive admissions pool in the history of the modern American university, there were a fair share of rejections all around. Thus, the senior class came out en masse for the traditional festival of Incendium on the SAC patio.
As the students assembled for cookies and punch, the gloom of college rejection gave way to a jocular and celebratory atmosphere. Some seniors, unable to find their rejection letters, wrote comical ones of their own. One from the fictional “Nazi U” declared, “Due in part to your Semitic heritage, and also due to a strong pool of Aryan applicants, your application has been denied. Sincerely, Adolph Hitler.” Soon, the fire was lit, and the Class of 2008 prepared to burn the letters, real and fake. One noteworthy moment came when Alessio Manti ’08 walked over to the grill and dropped in a single letter, then raised his arms and yelled, “F*** you, Yale!” The sixth-form cheered in agreement.
One by one, seniors took turns throwing their letters into the flames of a charcoal grill, whooping, cheering, or cursing the school. Brown University was one school that seemed disproportionately represented on the receiving end. After a while, people began to burn printed-out school crests from the Ivy League, gifts from Chris Beliezna, who ran the event with his usual supple expertise. Those lucky enough to be spared rejection found a way to participate as well, dumping all sorts of college papers into the fire. Tearing pages out of the SAT study guides was all the rage for a few moments. College essays and handouts from the college office were also thrown in, along with a copy of the Fiske Guide to the Colleges-- never to be read again.
Afterwards, two piñatas were dangled from the ceiling, each one covered with the symbols of the Ivy League. One by one, seniors took blindfolded swings at the Ivies––with the hacks of Drew Yeager ’08 and Mike Ryce ’08 drawing the biggest applause. Soon, the Ivy piñatas burst, and candy spilled out onto the SAC floor– –a sweet end to a too-often bitter process.
It was an anxious year for the Class of 2008. The college process is a strenuous rite of passage, but one that sometimes can bring out the best in everyone, regardless of the outcome. And the act of seeing countless talented, intelligent friends all burning rejections from the same schools that burned them may have been as therapeutic for some students as watching their own letters burn. The message was clear: if Brown doesn’t want the Class of 2008, then that’s their loss. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
Seniors say goodbye to the college process at the annual Incendium. PHOTO/Contributed Photo
