Class Day on the 1916 UC campus belonged to those about to graduate. At a mock-serious ceremony, seniors in graduation robes gathered with friends on the grassy lawn fronting Clifton Avenue for the reading of the class poem, history, prophecy and will. (Senior Vere Rubel is pictured reading the 1916 class history. Note the cross-town streetcar in the background.) Then, accompanied by white-gowned junior women bearing a traditional ivy chain, the seniors walked to a nearby building for the ivy planting ceremony.

In the early 1900s, Class Day was part of a full week of activities, beginning with Sunday's baccalaureate speech by UC president Charles Dabney in the original McMicken Hall. Events included a faculty-senior baseball game, a women's reception, a men's "smoker" at the Blue Grass Inn, a senior banquet at the Business Men's Club and a class play, "Much Ado About Nothing," on the university quadrangle. Commencement was Saturday morning in the gymnasium (now, Dieterle Vocal Arts Center).