With the first week of the semester under their belts, administrators and students are starting to buckle down to discuss the fate of Hey Day.
But nobody's sure exactly what they want to say.
Discussions are set to begin within the next two weeks. The Office of the Vice Provost for University Life is planning to work with both the junior class board and other members of the Class of 2008 to make the annual tradition "safe and fun," according to Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum, head of VPUL.
The annual tradition, in which juniors march through campus and are officially declared seniors, has come under fire in the last few years after seniors began hurling condiments and other objects at the rising seniors during their Locust Walk parade.
Both administrators and students say they have no agenda yet - fact-finding is their highest priority.
Student leaders are also tight-lipped about how they foresee the tradition continuing.
"If all of the student input can be compiled . then I think the administrative decision will be a much easier one to make," junior class President Puneet Singh said.
Cade added that the Faculty Senate, the Undergraduate Assembly Steering Committee - composed of representatives from major campus organizations - the Penn Police and Facilities officials will likely be involved in discussions in some capacity.
"The core and really important group is going to be the junior class," she said "We tried for three years to work with the current senior class board and current junior class board, and things just went from bad to worse."
Last year, officials threatened to significantly alter Hey Day if behavior did not improve. Nevertheless, mustard and ketchup rained down on Locust Walk last April - and the tradition is now in jeopardy.
And students and administrators alike say they hope that their decision will keep Hey Day in existence.
University President Amy Gutmann said that she wants to preserve the April mainstay.
"The larger picture is that we want Hey Day to continue, and we want everyone to work together to make that possible," she said. "I don't see any reason why it can't happen."
However, beyond plans for the discussion, formal visions for what form a future Hey Day may take have yet to be presented.
Singh said that as talks begin, they should be "so transparent so that [students] understand the rationale" behind any decision.
Gutmann said that for Hey Day to continue, people have to "take responsibility for not going over the line."
"We've got lots of students who are smart enough to know what that means," she said.
She said that the tradition must be fun but safe.
"It shouldn't be threatening to anybody," Gutmann said.
And Cade cited positive student safety initiatives during Spring Fling as a precedent for improving Penn traditions.
"Maybe we can create the set of conditions that worked for Spring Fling for Hey Day," she said.
Though she said she was devastated after seeing students injured during past Hey Days, Cade did say that she was still optimistic about making Hey Day work.
"Nothing is prejudged . nothing has been thought about," she said.
And juniors echoed this same sentiment.
"Everyone has been looking forward to Hey Day for the past two years," said Wharton junior Isaac Dayan, former vice president of the Class of 2008. "It would be a terrible shame if it were canceled."
