A member of the "Grandfather Class" of 1954 will be invited to give the Senior Toast at this year's Dean's Reception (May 13th), as they are inducted (upon their 50th reunion) into the Rutgers Old Guard.
Class Ivy has traditionally been planted around Kirkpatrick Chapel in order that the Class might forever plant its roots in the soil of Rutgers. However, due to a recent renovation of the Chapel and the damage that ivy does to the mortar between the bricks, this tradition has been ammended to planting it near the base of a tree on the Old Queens campus.
Clay Pipes are given to the members of the Senior Class to break over the cannon in the middle of the Old Queens Campus. According to tradition, the pipe represents the leisurely, contemplative life of the undergraduate which the graduating seniors relegate to the past as they smash their "pipe dreams" and face the world of reality. The inverted cannon itself is the product of a bitter, legendary Rutgers-Princeton struggle.
First graduating students assemble on the Old Queens lawn in alphabetical order and then they march through the Old Queens Building as the Old Queens bells rings to announce the event. The bell is rung by the 2nd year Class President and the 3rd year Class Council. The 2005 Class President Chris Stipeck will lead the procession during commencement, carrying the Gonfalon.
The Senior Class then processes through the Old Queens Gates. At Commencement, everyone will have their name announced. At the end of graduation, the Class Officers join the Dean of Rutgers College in leading the symbolic "Moving of the Tassel".