Traditions

SJSU Students gathered on the campus lawn.

What Does it Mean to Be a Spartan?

For more than 160 years, shared qualities like creativity and adaptability have connected generations of Spartans. Our traditions, both new and established, also connect our dynamic community.

Show Your SJSU Pride

Spartan Pride Thursdays

Whether you're on campus or living and working in another country, show your pride every Thursday by wearing your Spartan blue and gold.

Get Blue and Gold Gear

Welcoming Community

Students at the Admitted Spartan Day event.

Admitted Spartan Day

Every spring, new Spartans have the opportunity to come to campus to learn about all the wonderful resources that San Jose State has to offer, as well as how to complete the required next steps to enroll at SJSU.

SJSU students at the Weeks of Welcome event.

Weeks of Welcome

During the first weeks of the semester, SJSU welcomes back returning students and supports new students in their transition to the university with Spartan spirit-filled events.

Sping semester welcome Ask Me table.

Ask Me Tables

New to campus and need directions to class or just have a question? Come by the "Ask Me" tables! Members of the SJSU staff, faculty and administration are available to help you find your way around campus and answer any questions during the first few days of the fall and spring semester.

Homecoming football game.

Homecoming

From Fire on the Fountain, Campus MovieFest and the Spartan football, Homecoming is a weeklong celebration for the entire campus community.

Celebrating Legacies

Alumni Tommie Smith and John Carlos Sculpture.

Legacy Month

The legacy of equity and social justice is a part of SJSU’s DNA. Every October, the campus honors this legacy, which includes the human rights protest by alumni Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Olympic Games.

Students participating in SJSU's Earth Day.

Earth Day/Sustainability Week

Gaylord Nelson, '39 Political Science, founded Earth Day. Today, sustainability is a core SJSU value.

Edwin Markhan, author of "The Man with the Hoe."

Legacy of Poetry

Poets have found inspiration and community at San Jose State since Edwin Markham wrote "The Man with the Hoe." SJSU celebrates this lyrical legacy every spring.

Art and Art History Lecturer Yvonne Escalante, ’13 MFA Spatial Arts.
Photo: David Schmitz

Commencement

Commencement is an honored tradition at all universities. At SJSU's spring and fall ceremonies, there's special element: the ceremonial mace. An ornamental staff or scepter, the mace is carried by officials as part of formal parliamentary or academic ceremonies. A gift from the Tower Foundation of SJSU, the university’s ceremonial mace was designed and created this spring by Art and Art History Lecturer Yvonne Escalante, ’13 MFA Spatial Arts. She found inspiration for the design in both SJSU history and the paths students take to reach graduation.

Read the Story of the Mace