Another banner year for Lasell

The Class of 1880’s banner is made of silk and velvet with embroidered stitching. Photo by Hanna Babek

On a campus as old as Lasell’s, students come across little pieces of history nearly every day of their four years here. Between the Victorian houses, the stone crest in the parking lot of the Michael B. Alexander Science and Technology Center, and class banner posters that line the walls of academic buildings and dorm halls, students live in, walk over and are surrounded by their school’s history constantly.

Tucked away in the Winslow Archives on the second floor of Brennan Library are rows of boxes full of Lasell’s rich history. Stacks of photos, historical anthologies, yearbooks, copies of Leaves and The 1851 Chronicle line the walls of the hidden room that many students graduate without seeing. Within these boxes are also dozens and dozens of class banners dating back to as early as 1870.

The Class of 1917’s banner translates to “Whoever wants it, can have it.” Photo by Hanna Babek

Each year for over 150 years, the senior class has designed and produced a banner to be hung on the podium at graduation. Each are unique, representing the class’s time at Lasell in their own way. The materials, size and design vary; the banners are made in an array of felt, silk, polyester, and nylon with class mottos in English, Latin and Greek, song lyrics, years, intricate designs and vibrant colors.

Motifs are seen over the years, with the Lasell lamp and the school crest included on many banners. Throughout Lasell’s long history, which includes name changes and the admission of students of all genders, the tradition of creating a class banner remains very similar to that of the institution’s earliest graduating classes.

Each year, the graduating class of seniors choose the color, motto and pattern of their banner. The earliest banners were handmade by Charles Parker, who made Lasell’s first graduating class’s banner in 1854 and continued to make them for the next 20 years. The tradition remains today, with the senior class committee taking on the responsibility of not only designing, but creating the banners. While Parker embroidered the silk banners in the early years of Lasell, recent banners are more commonly made out of felt or polyester.

Today, the senior class committee works closely with Senior Professional Academic Advisor Vikki Turnquist and Assistant Director of Career Readiness Jessi Orlando to create the banners each year. The pair began helping with the banners in 2023, and have continued to assist the following classes since then. Class committee members reach out to Turnquist and Orlando at the start of the spring semester with banner ideas, and they work to have the banner finished by the last day of classes so that it can be hung on the podium for the commencement ceremony.

The Class of 2025’s banner is made of felt and translates to “Always ignorant of defeat.” Photo by Caitlin Orsino

“[We] understand that this is a long standing tradition at Lasell,” Turnquist said. “Some of these banners, after graduation, have been hung in the administrative offices around campus, and really symbolize a lot of pride that the community has in each class. The senior class committee takes a lot of pride in coming up with a design that has a meaningful slogan that represents their class.”

Senior communication major and member of the class committee Caitlin Orsino is spearheading the design and creation of the Class of 2025’s banner, which depicts Lasell’s crest alongside the Latin translation of the phrase “Always ignorant of defeat,” building upon the institution’s motto.

“This year, I wanted to design a banner that reflected ones from decades ago,” Orsino said. “I really love how classic and timeless some of them are, and I really wanted that to show in ours. I wanted to include the crest, because it’s been more or less the same for the entire time Lasell has been open. It’s been an honor to make something that will forever be a part of Lasell’s history.”