Campus events and programs provide a unique opportunity to learn and grow outside the classroom.
Lafayette is dedicated to enhancing traditions, developing innovative programs and focusing on social, cultural and global issues. Make sure you check out the online campus calendar for up-to-the minute events.
Welcome Weeks
A variety of programs targeted to First-Year students during their first two weeks of the academic year, but open to all students. Events are designed to help student make new friends and acclimate to life at Lafayette.
Welcome Back Festival
Usually held on the first weekend of school, the Welcome Back Festival is an exciting nighttime event with music, food, carnival games, and novelties. It is a great time to hang out with friends, both new and old.
Involvement Fair
An annual showcase of all of the campus organizations that offer a multitude of opportunities for students to get involved at Lafayette. The event is held outside on the Quad and also features a barbeque dinner.
Fall Fest
Each fall, LAF (The Lafayette Activities Forum) hosts their annual Fall Fest on the Quad. There are many traditions that students look forward to at this event including music, candy apples, pumpkin painting, carnival games and life-size hamster balls.
Family Weekend
Family Weekend is planned by the Family Weekend Committee with support from Student Leadership and Involvement and the Office of Parent Relations. The weekend occurs during the fall semester and programing begins on Friday evening and continues through Sunday morning.
1000 Nights
1000 Nights is a dance for the first-year class that celebrates 1000 nights left before graduation. This formal dance is presented by Student Leadership and Involvement and features music, photo booths, food, and an opportunity to celebrate with new friends.
Homecoming
Homecoming occurs during the fall semester and is a time for friends, family, and alumni of Lafayette to reunite for a home football game and a variety activities and events.
Visit the Homecoming site
Rivalry Week
Rivalry Week is a week of Lafayette spirited programs and events leading up the annual Lafayette-Lehigh rivalry football game. There are many small pop up events throughout the week in addition to larger events including a comedian, the Student Movement Against Cancer’s SMACk the Lehigh car, and Midnight Breakfast.
Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week
This is a week of programming showing the root causes hunger and homelessness and how everyone can relate to these issues. Events include film screenings, discussions and food drives.
Make a Difference Day
Organized by the Landis Community Outreach Center, Make a Difference Day is Lafayette’s fall day of service. Faculty, staff, and students can participate in projects that benefit the larger Easton and Lehigh Valley communities.
Holiday Helpers
Presented by the Landis Community Outreach Center, Holiday Helpers provides items to the women and children of the Easton area for the holidays. During the kick-off event participants can select a tag from the tag tree and gifts are delivered back to the Landis office a few weeks later.
Block PARTy
Block PARTy occurs before the first home football game of the season and is a celebration of creativity and school spirit. The event includes live performances, free arts-related activities, artwork, food, giveaways, and more.
Sex Week
Sex week is presented by the Office of Gender and Sexuality Programs alongside the Association of Lafayette Feminists (ALF), Quest- Lafayette’s LGBTQ awareness organization, and a variety of other offices and organizations, focusing on sexual celebration and education.
LGBTQ+ History Month
LGBTQ+ History Month occurs in October and programming is presented by the Office of Gender and Sexuality Programs. There are small passive events throughout the month that celebrate the LGBTQ+ community, lectures that bring awareness to the issues facing the LGBTQ+ community and a keynote speaker in celebration of National Coming Out Day.
D-Hop
The Sisters of Gamma Mu host the Delta House of Pancakes (DHOP) each Fall Semester in order to raise money for the Tri Delta National Philanthropy, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Sisters make and sell pancakes to the Lafayette College campus community on a weekend evening usually in early November.
Dance Marathon
Dance Marathon is an event held by the sisters of Pi Beta Phi and Phi Kappa Psi. It is a talent show bringing together individual and group acts for a night of fun and showcasing student talent at Lafayette College. All proceeds from the event go to helping the Easton Area Community Center.
Alpha Phi Red Dress Gala
The Red Dress Gala is one of Alpha Phi’s biggest philanthropy events of the year. Friends and family are invited to a dinner where all proceeds go towards the Alpha Phi Foundation for women’s cardiac health.
Haunted House
Presented by Phi Kappa Psi and Delta Gamma the annual haunted house takes place in the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity house on March Field. There is a new theme announced every year and the proceeds go to the Delta Gamma Foundation Service for Sight and the Boys and Girls Club of America.
Grown & Sexy
The Association of Black Collegians (ABC) hosts this annual semi-formal event featuring food, dancing, music, and open to all students!
Sincerely Seniors Appreciation Brunch
This event allows senior students to invite a faculty or staff member who has impacted their college career to a thank you brunch. The event is sponsored by the Senior Year Experience Committee.
Stuff a Plush
Students line up around Farinon hours before the event to take part in this treasured Lafayette tradition, presented by LAF. Students stuff their own plush animal and then can dress it with a Lafayette themed t-shirt.
Senior Week
A week of programming devoted specifically toward seniors during the week between finals and graduation. Events include trips to a variety of locations throughout the Lehigh Valley, beer and wine tastings, and the President’s Garden Party.
Extravaganza
Extravaganza is an annual event presented by the International Student’s Association. This week-long event celebrates and showcases the diverse cultures of Lafayette’s international students on campus. Events include discussions, food tastings, and the Grand Finale which takes place in Williams Center for the Arts.
President’s Ball
The annual President’s Ball is held early in the spring semester and is a formal dance that that is a favorite student tradition. It is a time to dance with friends, take photos, and of course enjoy the chocolate fountain!
Donut Day
Donut Day is presented by Student Leadership and Involvement and is a great kick-off to the spring semester. Decorate your own donut during lunch in Farinon or check out all the dining venues for specific donut day creations.
Spring Concert
The annual Spring Concert, presented by LAF and SGA is hosted on campus near the end of the spring semester in the Kirby Sports Center. The artists for this highly anticipated event are announced earlier in the year and the event is free for all students, starting a barbeque on the Quad earlier on in the day.
100 Days & Nights
100 Days & Nights is the perfect beginning to a senior Lafayette student’s final semester. The event is presented by the Senior Year Experience Committee and is held at the Steel Stacks in Bethlehem. It’s a great chance for the senior class to get together for a night of dancing before graduation.
Lafapalooza
Lafapalooza is Lafayette’s National Day of Service. The day gives faculty, staff and students an opportunity to work on a one day project that will help to benefit the community. The events are organized by the Landis Community Outreach Center.
Lafayette Leadership Institute
The Lafayette Leadership Institute is an all-day workshop dedicated to leadership education, allowing students to further develop their skills. The day is comprised of workshops in the morning, a luncheon with a panel discussion, followed by more workshops in the afternoon, and a keynote speaker to end the day.
Literacy Day
During Literacy Day students from the Easton area are invited to campus to engage in activities related to a book that has been chosen for that year. The event is sponsored by the Landis Community Outreach Center.
Criminal Justice Week
Criminal Justice Week is organized by the Landis Community Outreach Center in conjunction with Kaleidoscope, NIA, Amnesty International and BEACON. Programming for the week is designed around bringing awareness about the criminal justice system in the United States and the effects of incarceration on different communities.
LGBTQ+ Equality Rally
The LGBTQ+ Equality Rally is a bi-annual event that occurs during the spring semester. The goal of the rally is spread awareness for equal protection and freedoms for the LGBTQ+ community under Pennsylvania law. Free t-shirts to wear during the event are available in the Farinon Atrium the week prior to the rally.
Relay for Life
Relay for Life takes place during the spring semester and is presented by the American Cancer Society. The walk is 12 hours long as teams raise money for cancer awareness.
Hoff Awards
The Hoff Awards are organized by the Division of Campus Life and are held in memory of Aaron O. Hoff, Lafayette’s first African-American student who blew the horn in 1832 that began the first year of classes at the College. Awards include New Student Organization of the Year, Emerging Leader, and Administrator of the Year.
Black History Month
The Office of Intercultural Development along with many other groups and departments on campus create programs that celebrate and invoke thought around the events, issues, people and history of the African diaspora throughout the month of February. Programs include lectures, film viewings, and much more.
Women’s History Month
Women’s History Month programming is presented by the Office of Gender and Sexuality Programs, Women’s and Gender Studies, the Association of Lafayette Feminists and many other departments and groups. The main event – Take Back the Night March and Rally – is a campus wide march that ends in Centre Square in Easton and brings awareness to end of v
Alpha Phi Heart Healthy Dinner
Hosted by the sisters of Alpha Phi, the Heart Healthy Dinner takes place at the Alpha Phi Sorority House and the proceeds go to the Alpha Phi Foundation for Women’s Heart Disease during Heart Healthy Week.
Marina Day
Held each year by the sisters of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority in honor of Marina Peterson ’10 who passed away in 2009, Marina Day is an outdoor festival full of games and activities. Funds raised from the event go towards a scholarship in Marina’s name that helps to fund interim abroad trips for Lafayette Students.
Kappa Kisses
Held each year by the sisters of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, this chocolate kisses fundraiser is held during Valentine’s to raise money towards the Rose McGill Foundation. Be sure to find the ladies of KKG in Farinon atrium to purchase a bag to give to your significant other.
Jeremy Saxe Basketball Tournament
The Jeremy Saxe memorial basketball tournament is held in honor of Jeremy Saxe a Lafayette student who passed away in 2008. Jeremy Saxe ’09, a Rho DKE brother, was a senior at Lafayette when he passed away from heart complications. Jeremy had previously travelled abroad to Nepal, where he witnessed the poor education system for children. The Jere
Alpha Gam Kan Jam
Alpha Gam Kan Jam is presented by the sisters of Alpha Gamma Delta and is a fun outdoor event with Kan Jam, music and food. Proceeds from the event go to Diabetes Education and Awareness and the Boys and Girls Club of Easton.
Earth Week
Earth Week occurs in April and includes sustainability awareness programs and community service events. Programing is organized by Greening Lafayette, La Farm, and the Environmental Science and Studies Program in conjunction with many other campus departments and programs.
Battleship
Battleship is an intramural sporting event where teams work to try to sink the other team’s boats using buckets of water. This fun athletic event takes place in the natatorium.
Last Lecture
The Senior Year Experience Committee annually selects a professor who they feel would be able to give an inspirational lecture to the senior class about their journey through their career in life. The concept comes from Randy Pausch who went on a lecture circuit about achieving your dreams after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Senior Speaker
Each year the Senior Year Experience Committee selects a speaker for the senior class that will offer guidance to the students as they enter the next chapter of their lives. Past speakers have included Journalist Noor Tagouri and Scott Dikkers one of the founding editors of The Onion.
Anchor Bowl
A flag football tournament hosted by the sisters of Delta Gamma. Proceeds from the event go to the Delta Gamma Foundation, Service for Sight.
Alpha Phifa
Alpha Phifa is a philanthropy event held every year by the sisters of Alpha Phi. The soccer tournament proceeds go to benefit…
Social Justice Series
The Social Justice Series occurs during both the fall and spring semesters. Speakers and events in the series present interesting and thought provoking lectures and performances about issues related to social justice. Past events have included lectures from Kimberlé Crenshaw, W. Kamau Bell, and Carolina Contreras.
Senior Sips
Senior Sips are held every month for senior students. The events are themed differently every month and offer a break for students to relax with friends and enjoy food and drinks.
Midnight Breakfast
Midnight Breakfast occurs twice a year – before the Lafayette-Lehigh Rivalry Game and Spring Concert. The breakfast is held in Upper Farinon and is served by various faculty and staff.
