Yule Log Ceremony
The Yule Log Ceremony is one of Columbia's oldest traditions. Taking inspiration from a similar event at King's College, then-president Nicholas Murray Butler began the event in 1910 for students unable to return home for the holidays.
The ceremony begins when the Yule Log arrives in John Jay Hall after being carried around campus by students dressed in Colonial costumes.
It includes the traditional lighting in the Lounge fireplace and a reading of Clement Clark Moore's (CC 1798) "A Visit from St. Nicholas" by the ROLM Phone Lady, Francis P. Church's (CC 1859) "Is There a Santa Claus?", the most reprinted English-language newspaper editorial in history, and Dylan Thomas's "A Child's Christmas in Wales" by Dean Austin Quigley.
The Columbia University and Barnard College presidents also offer holiday messages.