ATLANTA - Oglethorpe University will welcome the holiday season with the 85th annual Boar’s Head Ceremony and Holiday Concert on Friday, December 9, at 7:30 p.m. in the Conant Performing Arts Center.

The evening will feature entertainment by the University Singers and University Chorale, under the direction of Dr. W. Irwin Ray and accompanied by David Buice, the Oglethorpe Playmakers and the Oglethorpe Winds. Soloist include Dr. John Cramer, tenor, Meredith McKay, soprano, and Robert Smith, tenor. The Southeastern Territorial Brass Quintet of the Salvation Army, directed by Dr. Richard Holz, is this year’s special guest performer.

Following the concert is the “kissing of the boar’s head” initiation ceremony for students inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK), a national leadership honor society founded at Washington and Lee University in 1914. The legend of Boar’s Head can be traced to the late 14th century at Queens College of Oxford University. Copcot, a student wandering the forest of Shotover on the day before Christmas, stopped to read Aristotle when he was attacked by a wild boar. As the boar charged, Copcot stood his ground saying in Greek, “Wisdom conquers even the treacherous beast.” At the last moment, he extended his arm, thus ramming the book down the throat of the animal. The boar found Aristotle hard to swallow and, amidst much choking and gasping, expired. Copcot brought the carcass to the college cook, who roasted it, Aristotle and all, for Christmas dinner. It was observed that those who ate the flesh of the boar grew wiser with each bite.

Oglethorpe University, steeped in English tradition with ties to Corpus Christi College of Oxford University, adopted the tradition as an occasion to hold a holiday party for faculty, staff and students. As the event has evolved through the years, it has become a time to honor the inductees of ODK. New ODK initiates carry the boar’s head, mounted on a litter, into the auditorium where the legend is told and the various musical ensembles and the audience participate in a holiday concert.