Rain or shine, Wellesley College’s annual hoop rolling event is ‘full circle’ moment for graduating seniors
Not even heavy rain could dampen the excitement Saturday morning as Wellesley College seniors ran down Tupelo Lane with wooden hoops in one of the school’s oldest traditions.
The annual hoop rolling race, which dates back to 1895, marks a celebratory right of passage for Wellesley seniors. During the race, seniors sprint about an eighth of a mile while rolling wooden hoops. The objective is to keep the hoop rolling upright, but many seniors dropped their hoops, picked them up and kept running—even if it caused them to fall behind a bit.
Originally, it was said that the winner would be the first to marry, but today she “will be the first to achieve success, however the winner defines it,” according to Wellesley Magazine.
This year’s winner, Arushi Ghosh, was thrilled to fulfill what she sarcastically called her “ultimate purpose” at Wellesley.
being tossed in by two of her friends
(Courtesy photo from Arushi Ghosh)
“The reason I came to Wellesley was to win hoop rolling,” joked Ghosh, an economics major from Hong Kong. “Forget about the bachelor’s degree–now I get a hoop rolling degree.”
Ghosh and her friend, Gabriella Olavarria, were the first seniors to arrive. About two rows of people there were underclassmen saving spots for their “Big Sisters.” Some of those “littles” had been there since 6 a.m. Ghosh and Olavarria arrived around 8:10 a.m., almost an hour before the race’s 9 a.m. start.
“We were texting from bed, and we were like, ‘Should we do it? Should we rally? Should we try to win?’” Ghosh said. “And then we got there, and we were the first seniors there, and all these underclassmen were bullying us because they were saving spots for their bigs, which is really sweet. But we were like, ‘OK, we’re here to win.’”
@swellesleyreport Annual hoop rolling race @Wellesley College ♬ original sound – swellesleyreport
Around 200 seniors participated in the race–about a third of the approximately 600-person class of 2025. The race, which lasted only about 45 seconds, ended with Ghosh crossing the finish line and being tossed into Lake Waban by two of her friends. Throwing the winner into Lake Waban is a tradition that dates back to the 1980s, following a prank where a Harvard man posed as a Wellesley senior and won, according to WBUR.
For many seniors, Saturday’s race was a full-circle moment. Ghosh recalled her first year at Wellesley, when she and her freshman-year roommate, Maya Lu-Heda, jumped into the lake together as part of the “Lake Jump” tradition. In this tradition, resident assistants pick a random day to knock on freshmen’s doors and bring them outside to jump in Lake Waban together.
For many Wellesley seniors, who will graduate on May 16, the day was bittersweet.
“It feels weird because I’ve been to watch hoop rolling, and now we’re the ones doing it,” senior Jessica Cohen said.
The rain and potholes posed some challenges for the students, but they still embraced the spirit of the tradition.
“I’ve been excited for this since sophomore year, so it’s a shame that it’s raining but a beautiful day nonetheless,” senior Ellie Gurguliatos said.
For the seniors, many of whom had once stood on the sidelines cheering for older classmates, Saturday’s event marked an emotional milestone.
“Everyone goes, but only the seniors roll the hoops,” senior Alaina Fox said. “It’s such a big tradition, especially in the rain. I’ve never seen it like this before.”
Ghosh was happy she could finish her college experience by winning the race.
“Now I’m at peace,” she said. “I’m like ‘I can graduate now.’”
This story is part of a partnership between the Swellesley Report and the Boston University Department of Journalism.