College Spirit Week Ideas

Dress-up days written for a campus: residence halls, majors, game week, student organizations and finals.

College Spirit Week Ideas

  1. Roommate Swap DayYou and your roommate dress as each other, borrowing the one piece each of you is known for: the hat, the jacket, the mug.
  2. Floor Color DayEach floor of the hall draws a color at the Sunday meeting and wears it from head to toe on the way to class.
  3. Group Project DayFour friends in matching tees numbered 1 to 4. Number 1 carries a laptop and the other three carry snacks.
  4. Student Section Theme NightThe student section adds one theme to the campus colors for the game: beach, pajamas or construction crew.
  5. Syllabus Week DayThe first-week student: a new notebook, sharpened pencils, every highlighter color and a planner already filled in.

Next step Questions for a new roommateA campus scavenger hunt

How it works

These college spirit week ideas only work on a campus: Roommate Swap Day needs a roommate, Major Swap Day needs a friend in another department, and Flashcard Shirt Day needs an exam.

Read the full guide

Spirit week day ideas for a college, by who runs the week

A hall council can run the residence hall days with nothing more than a floor meeting. Department days suit a student government week, because every major can join. A club or a chapter planning its own week has a group to itself, from Founders' Day Best to Officer Swap Day.

College spirit week theme ideas for game week and finals

Game-week days keep to the campus colors and name no team: Stripe the Student Section, Painted Overalls Day, One More Piece a Day. Finals days are the gentle end of the list. Nothing here needs a party or a purchase.

  • Run the week through a group that already meets: a hall council on Sunday, a club at its weekly session.
  • Photograph each day in the same spot, and the week becomes next term's recruiting poster.

Questions and answers

What are good college spirit week ideas?

High School Shirt Day, Dress Your Major Day, Painted Overalls Day, Big and Little Twin Day and Sweatpants Formal make a full week, one from each part of the list.

What are spirit week ideas for a residence hall?

Floor Color Day, Roommate Swap Day, Robe and Shower Shoes Day and Floor Number Jersey Day set one floor against another and need only what is already in the room.

What are spirit week ideas for a college club?

Every Shirt Since Founding Day, Officer Swap Day, Group Photo Throwback Day and Bring-a-Friend Day. Each one shows the group to the rest of campus, which helps at the recruitment table.

What can a campus do for spirit week during finals?

Keep it low-effort: Pajamas to the Library Day, Lucky Shirt Day, Highlighter Day for study groups and Dress Up for the Last Final. None of them takes time away from studying.

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All 61 days

Residence hall and floor days 12

  • Building Team Day Each hall invents a team named after its building and wears its gear, with a paper pennant for the lounge window.
  • Care Package Day Wear or carry one thing sent from home: the scarf, the knitted hat, the cookies to share.
  • Door Decoration Day Dress to match the name tag or the theme on your own door, so that neighbors can guess the room from the outfit.
  • Floor Color Day Each floor of the hall draws a color at the Sunday meeting and wears it from head to toe on the way to class.
  • Floor Number Jersey Day Tape your floor and room number to a tee like a team number. Matching floors sit together at lunch.
  • High School Shirt Day The shirt from the high school you came from, and a pin on the lounge map for the town it is in.
  • House Crest Day Each house or hall draws a crest and a motto on plain tees and wears them to dinner together.
  • Laundry Day Whatever is left in the drawer when everything else is in the wash: the odd socks, the free tee, the shorts in January.
  • Move-In Day Again The first-week look: a lanyard at the neck, the orientation shirt and a campus map held upside down.
  • RA Look-Alike Day With the resident assistant's blessing, the whole floor copies their everyday look. The RA comes as a first-year.
  • Robe and Shower Shoes Day A bathrobe over your clothes and shower sandals, with the caddy as a handbag, all the way to the dining hall.
  • Roommate Swap Day You and your roommate dress as each other, borrowing the one piece each of you is known for: the hat, the jacket, the mug.

Major and department days 13

  • Citation Day A favorite line from a textbook taped to your shirt, with the source cited underneath in your department's style.
  • Color by Major Day Each major picks a color in a poll, and the quad turns into a map of who studies what.
  • Dress Your Major Day A lab coat for chemistry, a paint-spattered apron for studio art, a blazer for business, boots and a field notebook for geology.
  • Fieldwork Day Dress for fieldwork in any subject: a sun hat, boots, a clipboard and a specimen bag that holds your lunch.
  • First Interview Day Dress for the interview you hope to land after graduation, and carry a folder with a made-up résumé.
  • Group Project Day Four friends in matching tees numbered 1 to 4. Number 1 carries a laptop and the other three carry snacks.
  • Lab Goggles Day Safety goggles pushed up on the head all day, whatever you study. Science majors lend the spares.
  • Made-Up Thesis Tee Day Write the title of a thesis nobody would fund on a plain tee, with a subtitle after the colon.
  • Major Swap Day Trade looks with a friend in another department and carry one of their textbooks all day.
  • Odd Elective Day Wear the gear of the oddest elective on your transcript: bowling, pottery, ballroom dance, beekeeping.
  • Professor Look-Alike Day With the professor's okay, copy the signature look: the cardigan, the travel mug, the stack of papers. Kind copies only.
  • Syllabus Week Day The first-week student: a new notebook, sharpened pencils, every highlighter color and a planner already filled in.
  • Undeclared Day For everyone still deciding: a tee covered in question marks, or one piece from each major you are weighing.

Campus colors and game week 11

  • Alumni Weekend Welcome Day Students wear a name tag with their class year and greet returning graduates, who wear theirs.
  • Campus Colors Friday Both campus colors at once, plus one item older than this year: the orientation shirt, a faded hoodie, a hand-me-down cap.
  • Campus Tour Guide Day A polo or a campus shirt, a name tag and a folder. Walk backwards whenever you point at a building.
  • Commuter Colors Day For students who drive or ride in: a campus-color ribbon on the bag, the bike or the car mirror, and a travel mug to match.
  • Fight Song Day A top in a campus color with one line of the fight song on tape across the back. Friends line up in order to finish the song.
  • Old Campus Shirt Day A campus shirt from a relative, a thrift shop or a past year. The older the lettering, the better.
  • One More Piece a Day Wear one piece in campus colors on Monday and add another each day, until Friday is campus colors from hat to shoes.
  • Painted Overalls Day Old bib overalls or jeans painted with the campus colors, the class year and the names of friends.
  • Statue Scarf Day With permission, the campus statue gets a scarf in campus colors, and everyone who passes wears one to match.
  • Stripe the Student Section Odd rows in one campus color, even rows in the other. Post the row plan the day before the game.
  • Student Section Theme Night The student section adds one theme to the campus colors for the game: beach, pajamas or construction crew.

Student organization week 13

  • Big and Little Twin Day Each mentor and the newer member they look after dress alike, down to the shoes.
  • Bring-a-Friend Day Each member brings one guest to the meeting, and the two wear matching colors so the hosts can spot the newcomers.
  • Cause Color Day The group wears the ribbon color of the cause it raises money for, and explains it to anyone who asks.
  • Dress as the Club Day Every campus group dresses as what it does: the chess club in black and white, the hiking club in boots, the choir in concert black.
  • Every Shirt Since Founding Day Members wear the group's shirts from as many past years as they can find, and line up in date order.
  • Founders' Day Best Dress up for the group's anniversary, with a ribbon or a pin in its colors.
  • Group Photo Throwback Day Dress like the oldest group photo on the meeting-room wall, and retake it in the same poses.
  • Intramural Team Day Wear the name of the group's intramural team, even if the name is the only thing it has ever won.
  • Invent a Mascot Day The group votes on an unofficial mascot and each member wears one piece of it: the ears, the tail, the colors.
  • Letters or Logo Day Wear the group's letters, logo or initials somewhere they show: a shirt, a pin, a patch on a backpack.
  • Officer Swap Day Officers trade roles for the day: the president carries the treasurer's cash box and calculator, and the treasurer carries the gavel.
  • Recruitment Table Day Members wear the group's colors and bring one prop that starts a conversation at the table on the quad.
  • Service Day Tees An old tee and jeans that can get dirty, for the cleanup or the build the group does that afternoon.

Finals week days 12

  • Blanket Cape Day A blanket worn as a cape from the residence hall to the study room, pinned at the shoulder.
  • Dress Up for the Last Final Your best outfit for the last exam of the term, to walk out looking the way you feel.
  • Flashcard Shirt Day Tape your flashcards to your sleeves, question side out, and let friends quiz you between buildings.
  • Highlighter Day Each friend in the study group dresses as one highlighter color: yellow, pink, green, orange, blue.
  • Lucky Shirt Day The shirt, the socks or the hat you swear by on exam days. Compare superstitions at breakfast.
  • Mug From Home Day Carry the mug you brought from home and dress in its color, pattern and all.
  • Packing Day Layers Wear whatever has not gone into a box yet, in as many layers as it takes.
  • Pajamas to the Library Day Pajamas, a robe and slippers with real soles, for the last study day before exams.
  • Study Group Uniform Day Each study group picks a uniform, matching beanies or hoodies of one color, and wears it all reading week.
  • Summer Starts Now Day After the final spring exam: sunglasses, shorts and a beach towel over the shoulder, even in the rain.
  • Sweatpants Formal A blazer, a tie or a dressy top above the table, and sweatpants below it.
  • Well-Rested Day A robe and an alarm clock on a string: dress as someone who went to bed on time, and then do it.