MAY-FETE

ON CAMPUS:

Speckles of reds, yellows, pinks, and blues against fields of green grass, clear skies swirled with white clouds, and gentle sunlight grazing over skin - teasing the summer time. A vision of a perfect spring day.

To us Ohio State Students, this usually signifies a rare occasion where Ohio weather is actually normal, but to the women of the 1910’s - 20’s Ohio State campus, this signaled a time of dance auditions in Pomerene hall and decorating the amphitheater as well as Mirror Lake in preparation to celebrate the coming of spring with a festival called May Fete.

WHAT IS MAY FETE?

May Fete was defined as a biennial campus wide celebration of spring. This celebration was usually themed and included events such as orchestra performances, dances, and many more events from different organizations across campus, the pinnacle being the pageant where the May Fete Queen and King Elect were crowned. Later on these events were titled May Week and took place during the second week of May.

The May Fete dance consisted of these young women, who were chosen, walking down to Mirror Lake Hollow dressed in loose, white, long dresses whilst dancing around the maypole holding ribbons. After the dance, the King and Queen were crowned on the amphitheater stage.

The event no longer takes place at the Ohio State University and is very scarce in the present day with only a few universities and schools carrying on the tradition.

Homage To A Tradition

We wanted to highlight this Ohio State Tradition whilst applying a modern spin to the occasion. Replicating aspects such as white attire and emphasizing the beauty of nature and spring through the use of flowers.

A New Perspective

It’s no surprise that May Fete excluded multiple different identities, one of them being students of color. The history of OSU and America included heavy discrimination and oppression amongst students of color. All of them had to fight for a spot at this university and are still experiencing this struggle today. It wasn’t even until the 1950s when black students were permitted to live on the OSU campus. We wanted to showcase a new era of the university and our commitment towards diversity and intersectionality with a much different May Fete.

WRITTEN BY

SAMUELA OSAE