Aloha Oe Began

1926

Aloha Oe Began

1926

Aloha Oe Began

The first Aloha Oe ceremony was held on May 17, 1926 with a band and a muddy tug-of-war. It evolved into a solemn companion event to Torch Night and by 1935, senior women in white dresses and senior men in suits marched through Grecian columns installed on Shields-Watkins Field for the ceremony. Initially, a senior toga was given to the outstanding junior. Starting in 1937, the outstanding junior was proclaimed “Volunteer of the Year” and a small model of the Volunteer Statue replaced the toga. Each senior class member was then given a lighted candle, the Torch of Service, which signified a pledge to serve UT and their community as responsible and loyal adults. The seniors proceeded up the side of the hill where they formed a T and extinguished their candles in unison to bid farewell to their alma mater. Aloha Oe was set aside in 1967 and revived in 1994.