Campus Traditions
New Student Investiture - is the official welcoming ceremony for new students to Barry University. Held during fall Orientation, the New Student Investiture is a ceremony that highlights Barry University and commemorates the opening chapter of college life at Barry for the entering class. New students and their families are the honored guests at this ceremony.
Mass of the Holy Spirit - is celebrated for the University community during the first week of fall classes to pray for God's blessing and protection for students, faculty and staff and the new academic year.
Founders' Week- commemorates Barry's history, mission, and Dominican heritage.
Every November, we set time aside as a university community to:
- Recall Barry’s founding as Barry College in 1940
- Pay tribute to Barry’s four original founders
- Mother Gerald Barry, OP, Prioress of the Adrian Dominican Sisters
- The Most Reverend Patrick Barry, Bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine, Florida
- Monsignor William Barry, Pastor of St. Patrick’s Parish in Miami Beach
- Mr. John Graves Thompson, Esq., Mayor of Miami Shores
- Honor the Adrian Dominican Sisters who have been our religious sponsors and most significant benefactors since 1940
- Reflect on contemporary expressions of the Barry Mission Statement and Core Commitments
Whether you are living a Barry life in Miami Shores, the many academic sites throughout Florida and the Bahamas, we encourage you to commemorate our founding with your fellow student, faculty and staff. Founders’ Week highlights our institutional faithfulness to our heritage, Mission and Core Commitments. We are all a part of taking this legacy forward for future generations.
Baccalaureate Mass - is celebrated the day prior to the Commencement exercises to ask God's blessing on the graduates and their families.
Rose and Candle Ceremony - is one of the oldest traditional student activities at the University and is held the day before graduation. The ceremony attempts to symbolize in word and song the deep bonds of friendships that have developed between two students. Graduating students give a candle, symbol of knowledge and wisdom, to an undergraduate student of their choice and receive, in return, a red rose, symbol of love and friendship. This ceremony completes the college experience that began at New Student Investiture.
Commencement - takes place in May, and December of each academic year.