For many years in England, a roasted boar's head has been associated with holiday feasting.

The custom probably goes back to the Norse practice of sacrificing a boar at Yuletide in honor of the god Freyr. One story tells of a student at Oxford's Queen's College who was attacked on Christmas Day by a wild boar.

All he had in his hand to use as a weapon was his copy of Aristotle, so he shoved the book down the boar's throat. Wanting to retrieve his book, the student cut off the animal's head and brought it back to the college where it was served for Christmas dinner with much pomp and ceremony.

Learn more in a retrospective look at the evolution of Reed's own boar's head carol by Virginia Hancock '62 (pdf).

Watch a video of our boar's head procession 2006.

Note that it is the Reed tradition to stand as the boar's head procession passes your table.

More rapid than owls, his coursers they came.
And he whistled and shouted, and called them by name;
Now Diver! Now Doyle! Now Chittick and Ladd!
On Foster! On Scholz! On Quincy in plaid!
So up to the Holiday Party they flew, for dinner with friends and dancing too.

(with apologies to Clement Clarke Moore)

Alumni, faculty, staff, parents, and friends reveled at the annual Reed Alumni Holiday Party on Saturday, December 17, 2011.

View photos of the general festivities as well as individual glamour shots for download (password: reed).

6 p.m.		Hosted cocktail hour Gray lounge, Kaul Auditorium
7 p.m.		Holiday buffet dinner Kaul Auditorium
8 p.m.		Bagpiper and the boar’s head procession Kaul Auditorium
8:15 p.m.		Dessert and no-host bar Kaul Auditorium and Gray lounge
8:15 p.m.		Dancing to tunes by the Pranksters with no-host bar Student union (Guests who would like to drop by to join in the after-dinner frivolity are most welcome.)
8:30 p.m.		Piano music by Carol Biel Kaul Auditorium

 

After the gustatory pleasures, our photographer will be offering complimentary
glamour shots for individuals or groups (of any size) on the Kaul stage. Photos
will then be available for you to download online in the following weeks.

For this festive occasion, we invite our guests to come cloaked in their favorite evening wear.

Register

Online registration will be available through December 13; after this date, please contact the alumni office at 503/777-7589 or alumni@reed.edu.

Cost
$40 per person, which includes the cocktail hour, buffet dinner, dessert, hosted bar until 8:15 p.m., the Pranksters big band, and other entertainment. ($30 per person for 2006–11 alumni)

Parking
Shuttles will be available from the west lot (off of SE 28th Avenue) and the
east lot (off of SE Woodstock Boulevard) from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 to
9:30 p.m.

Questions
If you have special needs or questions, contact us at alumni@reed.edu or
503/777-7589.