Senior Remembrances
From SWILwiki
SWIL Remembrances originate as a pun on the process of people who complete a successful sentience proof becoming "non-members" by being "dismembered" and having their limbs removed and stored. It was decided that upon graduation non-members would have their members ceremonially returned to them at the last official SWILmeeting of the academic year. This process was called "re-membering", and the tradition soon developed of everyone in the room stating a fond memory of the person before they left, with the ironic implication that after graduation the person would soon be gone forever (which, of course, was often -- perhaps usually -- not the case).
Over time, the actual "remembrance" part of Remembrances has increased dramatically. What was once a relatively brief affair consisting of people going around the room and dropping single statements or in-jokes has now become a quite drawn-out and somewhat sentimental affair involving many long, shared stories. Contributing to this has been the tendency to remember all non-members in the graduating class year, even if those non-members are not present and no longer actively participate in SWIL, compounded with the submisssion of written remembrances of graduating seniors by SWILlies who are absent at the time. This trend culminated in the SWIL Remembrances of 2005 being a contender for the longest SWILMeeting on record, extending from noon all the way to Sharples' closing at around 7:00.
The SWIL Remembrances of 2006 extended this trend; the Remembrances part of the meeting began around 1 pm and extended until past 8 pm.
There is currently rather hot debate between those who support the long-form Remembrances and those who don't want to be locked in Sharples for 8 hours. One proposal is to hold Remembrances as a separate, non-SWILMeeting event, possibly in sleepover format similar to SWILoween. The disadvantage of this, of course, is that people could no longer wander in for their Remembrance, or to add something to someone else's, and then wander out again. Plus, we'd have to pay for our own food.
I feel that this is sort of the official presidential policy on Remembrance reform, or should be: "Remembrances should be reformed and made shorter. After I graduate." -- JillianWaldman
There are a few traditions that attach to Remembrances, though Remembrances are unusual in that they are one of SWIL's most sincere, least jokey events. Even so, Remembrances are often a time to repeat moments from particularly memorable SWIL sentience proofs or to swap quotes. The Collected Sayings of Chairman Mark, for example, were first formally read at Remembrances 2005.
The Lost Remembrances of 2004 are an item of some legendary status.
| Pterodactyl Hunt | SWILoween | Inauguration | Massacre | Kegger | Walpurgisnacht | Remembrances |
