A Collection of College Words and Customs

by Benjamin Homer Hall

"When this has been done, the House, headed by the committee, proceed to the Senate Chamber (Senior Chapel), and are arranged by the committee around the President, the Senators (Seniors) meanwhile having taken the second floor. The President of the Senate then rises and delivers an appropriate address, informing them of their new dignities and the grave responsibilities of their station. At the conclusion of this they take their seats, and proceed to the election of officers, viz. a President, a Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer. The President must be a member of the Faculty, and is chosen for a term; the other officers are selected from the House, and continue in office but half a term. The first Vice-Presidency of the Senate is considered one of the highest honors conferred by the class, and great is the strife to obtain it.

"The Senate meet again on the second Friday of the next term, when they receive the inaugural message of the President. He then divides them into seven districts, each district including the students residing in a Section, or Hall of College, except the seventh, which is filled by the students lodging in town. The Senate is also divided into a number of standing committees, as Law, Ethics, Political Economy. Business is referred to these committees, and reported on by them in the usual manner. The time of the Senate is principally occupied with the discussion of resolutions, in committee of the whole; and these discussions take the place of the usual Friday afternoon recitation. At Commencement the Senate have an orator of their own election, who must, however, have been a past or honorary member of their body. They also have a committee on the 'Commencement Card.'"

On the same subject, another correspondent writes as follows:—

"The Senate is composed of the Senior Class, and is intended as a school of parliamentary usages. The officers are a President, Vice-President, and Secretary, who are chosen once a term. At the close of the second term, the Junior Class are admitted into the Senate. They are introduced by a committee of Senators, and are expected to remain standing and uncovered during the ceremony, the President and Senators being seated and covered. After a short address by the President, the old Senators leave the house, and the Juniors proceed to elect their officers for the third term. Dr. Thomas C. Reed who was the founder of the Senate, was always elected President during his connection with the College, but rarely took his place in the chamber except at the introduction of the Juniors. The Vice-President for the third term, who takes a part in the ceremonies of commencement, is considered to hold the highest honor of the class, and his election is attended with more excitement than any other in the College."

See COMMENCEMENT CARD; HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

SENATE-HOUSE. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., the building in which the public business of the University, such as examinations, the passing of graces, and admission to degrees, is carried on.—Cam. Guide.

SENATUS ACADEMICUS. At Trinity College, Hartford, the Senatus Academicus consists of two houses, known as the CORPORATION and the HOUSE OF CONVOCATION, q.v.—Calendar Trin. Coll., 1850, p. 6.

SENE. An abbreviation for Senior.

Magnificent Juns, and lazy Senes.
Yale Banger, Nov. 10, 1846.

A rare young blade is the gallant Sene.
Ibid., Nov. 1850.