events, students, traditions

Sophomore Dance

Class dances were a popular tradition in the 1870s. One, in particular, was the Sophomore Dance, which took place late in the school year. The Sophomore Dance originally occurred at the end of the Spring semester, accompanying various other Class Day festivities. Though the tradition fell off between 1874 and 1907, it was revived and continued until the mid 1960s.

In the Trinity Tablet issue of April 1874, the Sophomore Dance is said to have been revived in “something like a return to the old way,” replacing the “Burning of Analytics,” another tradition that marked the end of the school year in that time. The sophomores of the class of 1877 apparently decided to return to the tradition of the end-of-year dance, which the article credits with “a new lease of life.” However, the Tablet reported the following year that the time for Sophomore Dances had given way to “A more practical spirit,” desiring that class funds no longer be spent on “transient affairs” and instead be put towards the improvement of the boating program.

Sophomore Hop, 1960. Photo credit: Trinity College Archives

Whatever pragmatic attitude had influenced the class of 1878 did not last, however, since the Sophomore Dance (also termed the “Sophomore Hop”) would reemerge in 1907. That year, a group of enterprising sophomores decided to revive the tradition. In a letter to the Editor of the Trinity Tripod published in the December 13, 1907 issue, a student wrote of the difficulties overcome by the organizing committee in putting on the dance, and urged other students to show up, saying, “Such a dance should be an annual affair at Trinity as it is in many other colleges–so cancel other engagements and do your part.” Heavy emphasis was put on the dance as an “informal event,” and all undergraduates and alumni of the College were invited, as well as their guests and dates. Since Trinity was not yet a co-educational school, the appearance of women from various New England women’s colleges at Trinity brought great excitement. One Tripod writer advertising the appeal of the dance in 1942 wrote, “Regiments of lovely, lovely girls will converge from the north, the east, the west, and the south tonight to form a spearhead in the lines of those Trinity undergraduates who have been striving so valiantly in the battle for the Soph Hop.”

The revival of the Sophomore Dance garnered such enthusiasm from students that it remained an annual event until 1965. The dance became a cornerstone of Trinity social life, falling on the same weekend as the last home football game of the season and providing an occasion for students to celebrate completion of the Fall semester. Over the years, music was provided by local Trinity groups such as the Pipes, jazz and rock bands from Hartford, Boston, and New York City, and the occasional all-female a capella ensemble like the Wheaton Whims in 1949.

For the most part, the dance was held off campus at a ballroom in Hartford, most often the Hartford Club or Club Ferdinando. It was sporadically held on campus in Alumni or Cook Hall, though it wasn’t until 1960 that the Hop began to be held consistently at Trinity. That year the dance took place in Mather Hall, after construction of the building was completed and officially dedicated in October.