Webb Commencement Traditions Honor Community

Webb School of California and Vivian Webb School traditional end-of-year ceremonies celebrate the senior classes as honorable leaders of the Webb community.

Ahead of commencement, seniors pass on the duty of honorable leadership to underclassmen in the candlelight ceremonies. The tradition of these ceremonies goes back decades.

WSC celebrate the transition of leadership with a candlelight ceremony in Price Dining Hall ahead of a special meal. In the ceremony, seniors light their individual candles from a central flame at the head table. Then, they travel around the dining hall lighting the candles of underclassmen. Sometimes boys will blow out a candle for it to be lit again.

This year the VWS candlelight ceremony was held inside Vivian Webb Chapel for the first time since spring of 2019. In the ceremony, seniors exchange their lit candles with juniors for a white rose. By accepting the candle, juniors promise to keep the “light of leadership” burning brightly.

Community comes first at Webb and honor is considered a principal value. The candlelight ceremonies for both VWS and WSC represent the continuity of the light of leadership, passed from seniors to underclassmen. This light shines with the accumulated wisdom of the value of living honorably in a community.

Unity is the overwhelming feeling of Webb’s end-of-year ceremonies. Upon exiting the Vivian Webb Chapel after the candlelight ceremony, members of the senior class unite in a joyous scream. The WSC commencement concludes in the unity of the WSC and VWS senior classes on stage on the Alamo lawn, screaming and hugging. Underclassmen support them along the way, cheering in the audience of all the ceremonies.

A Webb education teaches students how to live honorably in a community, and the end-of-year ceremonies celebrate the value of this lesson.

Congratulations to the WSC and VWS classes of 2023! Thank you for sharing your light.