Student representatives, who are undergraduates elected by the Delegate Council, and Graduate Institute students appointed by the Graduate Council, attend regular sessions of the Board of Visitors and Governors on the Annapolis campus, with a voice in deliberation, but without vote. (Graduate Institute students: See Appendix IV: Constitution and Protocol, Graduate Council of St. John’s College at Annapolis, Maryland.)
Commencement is held in May for all graduating students and in August for summer Graduate Institute graduating students. (See the Academic Policies sections for information concerning participation in Commencement ceremonies.)
Convocation is held in the beginning of fall for freshman and first-time Graduate Institute students, and in at the start of the spring and summer terms for first-time Graduate Institute students. At this ceremony, new students are welcomed into the College and sign the official college register.
With the exception of Thanksgiving Day, the college holds classes on federal and state holidays such as Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Presidents’ Day and Martin Luther King’s birthday. St. John’s College, as a non-sectarian institution, does not observe religious holidays.
All St. John’s alumni are invited to participate in the annual Homecoming event in the fall. Homecoming events typically include the traditional Friday-night lecture, Saturday morning seminars followed by lunch, the Sunday In Memoriam event, and a breakfast in partnership with the Alumni Association. On Homecoming Saturday, there are a variety of return-to-campus activities that vary but often feature networking with current students, an author event in collaboration with the bookstore, recreational events, open hours at the boathouse, and other campus opportunities.
The college hosts lectures followed by question periods on various program and non-program topics on Friday evenings during the academic year and mid-week during the summer semester. When possible, typescripts and recordings of lectures are made available at the Greenfield Library and online via the Library’s online catalog and via the SJC Digital Archives at digitalarchives.sjc.edu.
