Senior Walk
by AutumnSpectacle.com staff

Graduating from college is a milestone that should be admired and, for those who put in their time and earn a degree, they are worthy of a sincere pat on the back.  At the University of Arkansas, they pay their respects to grads in a very profound way.

The Senior Walk can be found on walkways all across the rolling hills of the university’s campus in Fayetteville.  The first graduating class of the university was in 1876 and, since that time, every individual who earned the right to be referred to as “Alumni” has their name permanently etched into the concrete sidewalks.  Graduates are listed by the year in which they earned their degree and it covers more than five total miles.

Let’s say you park on Dickson Street – the area for UA hot spots – and walk toward the Old Main administration building.  You will finish your trek by walking on the names included on the ’04 graduating class.  That’s ’04 as in 1904!

Senior Walk is a tradition unlike any other in the country and the school has continued to do it in spite of recent trends.  For many years, the practice of naming a building or venue after a person was done so because of the intangible contributions made by the individual.  In 21st century America, naming rights are bestowed because of how much wealth a person or group accumulates and donates – not because of what they’ve accomplished.

However, for the Hog Alumni (more than 124,000 in all), they earned the right to leave their mark on their alma mater.

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