Making a Major Decision
By Bowdoin NewsStarting back in 2019, the Office of Student Activities began celebrating "Declaration Day" as a Bowdoin holiday of sorts, throwing a party in Smith Union with treats and music. This year, the Student Activities team served up pretzels and cupcakes, strung up balloons, and tapped a student band to perform.
As students strolled in to Smith Union, they added their names to handmade posters for all the majors. These signs remained hanging on the Union walls for several days, giving sophomores a chance to check out their new academic cohort.
Associate Director of Student Activities Silvia Lorrain said she and her officemates launched Declaration Day when they decided that such an important milestone needed a bigger hurrah. This year, they received assistance from Residential Life and the sophomore class council.
"Major Declaration Day is such big moment in a student’s academic career at Bowdoin, and the day seemed anticlimactic," Lorrain said. "Organizing an event to celebrate and bring the sophomores together is a way to mark this important moment. Students have loved walking around Smith Union to see what their classmates declared and to get to know others who declared the same major."
Photos by Andrew Estey
