With brisk temperatures and warm smiles, the Student Government Association (SGA) kicked off Auburn University’s 77th Hey Day on Wednesday morning, October 16th.

Dating back to 1947Hey Day was created to welcome post-World War II student veterans to a friendly and welcoming campus. The veterans felt out of place at home in the postwar period, so the SGA encouraged students to proudly wear name tags and connect with people they might not have otherwise met.

The simplicity of Hey Day is intended to help relieve some of the pressure students feel and give them the opportunity to overcome their fears when speaking to strangers. Sometimes a “Hey” is enough to start a conversation.

Wyatt Hardee, a junior in chemistry, explained that Hey Day is one of his favorite Auburn traditions and that his love for Hey Day was sparked his freshman year when he volunteered for the event.

“Something as simple as saying ‘Hey’ can really make a difference, especially when someone is having a bad day and maybe doesn’t want to talk,” Hardee said.

SGA has placed stations throughout campus, including Village, Edge and Ralph Brown Draughon Library, but the two hubs for Hey Day were in the Campus Green Space and in front of the Melton Student Center. Name tags, pins and shirts were distributed at these stations. Anything to encourage students to say hello to each other.

In the Green Space, students were invited to meet new people while enjoying Spikeball, a lunch with “Hey Dogs,” and an inflatable obstacle course. There was also a pep rally that included Auburn University cheerleaders, Tiger Paws and Aubie the Tiger.

Nibir Roy, a first-year biosystems engineering student, said he had never heard of Hey Day until that morning, but he soon discovered that Hey Day represents the southern hospitality found at Auburn University.

“Since I came here, the way they greet people, the way they meet with people, engage with them, I think that’s what’s fascinating,” Roy said.

Outside the Melton Student Center, students could be found smiling in front of a Hey Day photo booth for the Glomerata or posing with resident raptors from the Auburn University Raptor Center.

Andrea McCravy, a raptor specialist and former student volunteer at the Raptor Center, explained that the center is invited to Hey Day every year to give students the opportunity to learn about birds such as the infamous bald eagle Independence and the golden eagle Nova.

In addition to the photography opportunity, McCravy explained that the raptors serve as educational ambassadors for all of the center’s raptors, such as vultures, owls and hawks. Hey Day relies heavily on volunteer labor and serves as another community outreach event for the Raptor Center to promote rehabilitation services for non-releasable animals.

Erin Mitchell, a freshman speech, language and hearing sciences student, volunteered at the SGA table outside Aubie Hall for Hey Day in the morning. She acknowledged the anxiety many freshmen feel when meeting new people at Auburn.

“It’s definitely nerve-wracking. It’s not easy to come from a smaller place and throw yourself right into a huge community of people,” Mitchell said. “It’s really nice for freshmen and people who aren’t familiar with Auburn traditions to get used to the people around you and get to know their names.”

Stella Grayson, a junior in public relations, also volunteered for Hey Day. Grayson emphasized that Auburn is all about traditions, and Hey Day is a wonderful way to introduce familiarity to a massive campus of nearly 33,000 residents.