Events and Traditions

Hoyas stay busy with schoolwork, sports, clubs, and events put on by the Center for Student Engagement and the Office of Advancement. Here are some favorites:

Bookending the Georgetown experience,

New Student and Senior Convocations

introduce and showcase key elements of Georgetown’s history and symbols. Students experience the university’s traditions, such as academic regalia and the Alma Mater, and learn about Georgetown’s founding values and commitments. All students participating in Convocation don robes and alumni parents are also invited to don robes to signify their role as continuing members of the Georgetown family.

Georgetown Weeks of Welcome (GWOW)

take place over the first six weeks of the fall semester and involve large-scale programming to welcome new students, returning students, faculty, and staff back to campus for the new academic year.

The Big Hunt is an annual D.C.-wide scavenger hunt for first-year and transfer students. New Hoyas have the chance to explore D.C., search for clues, make friends, and win great prizes in this all-day adventure! Past prizes have included dinner at 1789, box seats at the Verizon Center for a Georgetown basketball game, gift cards to Tombs and Baked & Wired, and more. Each fall, Georgetown students and Hoya alumni from around the world gather at their home on the Hilltop in the tradition that unites them all: Homecoming Weekend! Homecoming kicks off for students with Traditions Day, which celebrates the history and traditions of Georgetown with student organizations, performances, and food. Homecoming Weekend is always a special and vibrant time for alumni and students alike to reconnect and celebrate the Georgetown Community.

The Spring Concert is hosted by the Georgetown Program Board every spring for thousands of students. The whole campus gets involved in choosing which artists they want to perform. The Bash—free food, games, music, and giveaways—happens before the concert!

Rangila is an annual charity showcase hosted by the South Asian Society before Thanksgiving. It features a variety of exciting dances and performances from different regions of South Asia. Rangila recently raised over $30,000 for Prerena, an organization aimed at ending human trafficking in Mumbai.