Since the 1870s, engraved plaques, known as ivy stones, have been installed in the brickwork of Bates campus buildings to honor each graduating class.

The class ivy stone is installed in the senior year shortly before Commencement. Each spring, seniors are invited to submit design ideas for their class stone, with the final design selected by vote of the senior class.

The plaques vary in style and size, with recent plaques measuring 7.75 inches square. Some stones are bas-relief; most are installed within the brickwork. All are placed a few brick courses above the foundation.

For many years, the ivy-stone installation was part of a ceremony focused on the junior class, and included speeches, odes, songs, and the planting of a sprig of ivy directly below the new stone. For that reason, the first ivy stone, for the Class of 1879, was placed in the year 1878.

By the late 1960s, Ivy Day became an increasingly raucous tradition, featuring a roast of the senior class by juniors, eventually leading to the event’s cancellation in the early 1970s. It resumed later in the decade as a tradition for the senior class.

During the fallow time, ivy stones for two years, 1974 and 1975, were not created; both classes later created and installed their class stones: the latter in 2006, and the former in 2024 to celebrate their 50th Reunion.

• Provided By The Bates Fund