Wellesley Celebrates 144th Flower Sunday

Happy Flower Sunday! One of Wellesley’s oldest traditions, Flower Sunday brings together first-year and upperclass students in early September for a multicultural and multifaith pageant of song, music, poetry, and dance.

The Flower Sunday tradition emerged from the College’s Protestant heritage. Many new students at Wellesley felt homesick on their first Sunday away from home, and a celebration of the new school year and a day of siblinghood helped ease their transition.

As part of the festivities, “bigs” bring bouquets of flowers or small gifts to their “littles” and accompany them to the Flower Sunday festivities. Students can request a big or little if they are connected through clubs, organizations, or team or they can fill out a form through their residence hall and be paired that way. With bigs sometimes accumulating several littles during their time at Wellesley, entire “families” fill the seats in Houghton Chapel.