THE HISTORY OF VALENTINE’S DAY: LUPERCALIA TO HALLMARK

BY EVAN PAPAGEORGE, STAFF WRITER

Within the next week, many students on Stevens campus will become engrossed in their love for their special someone — or lack thereof. February 14, more commonly known as Valentine’s Day, is a time of love, heats, fancy chocolate, and cute depictions of Cupid as a dawdling little baby with a heart bow and arrow. However, the history of Valentine’s Day goes back centuries, even millennia. From ancient festivals to modern Midwest America, Valentine’s Day has evolved. The true origins of Valentine’s may surprise you.

Although the birthplace of Valentine’s Day is questionable, an agreed point to start is with ancient Rome. Around the same time of year as Valentine’s Day, on February 13-15, the Romans would celebrate the Feast of Lupercalia. The Feast of Lupercalia celebrated fertility rather than romantic love. The celebration of this feast was somewhat gruesome. The men would sacrifce a dog and a goat and then whip women with the hides of the sacrifced animals. In an interview with NPR, Yale religious studies professor Noel Lenski says, “The Roman romantics ‘were drunk. They were naked.” In addition to the violent acts of the event, the men would choose a random woman’s name from a jar, then be gifted that woman as a lover for the festival — sometimes longer.

Past the disturbing and violent Feast of Lupercalia, the ancient Romans most likely are the source of the name “Valentine’s Day.” In the 3rd century C.E., Roman Emperor Claudius II ordered the execution of two men on February 14, of diferent years, but both were named Valentine. When the Cath- olic Church gained power, these men’s martyrdom was immortalized with a celebration of them: St. Valentine’s Day.

A few centuries later, Pope Gelasius I confusingly combined the Feast of Lupercalia and St. Valentine’s Day to quell pagans and peacefully force citizens into Christendom. This new festival was much tamer than that of the Romans: more of a drinking party than a sacrifcial feast, though love and fertility nature remained. Things became more confusing with the Norman holiday of Galatin’s Day, or “Love of woman” day, with Galatin’s pronounced the same way as Valentine’s. Over the centuries since the Roman age, Valentine’s day has become more docile. Renaissance entertainment made it a sweeter holiday, with Shakespeare romanticizing it in some of his famous plays. Across England and Europe, handmade cards given to one’s lover or romantic partner became a tradition of romantic love across the Middle and early modern eras. With the introduction of Europe to the New World, Valentine’s Day came as well. Everything was simple until a small company out of Kansas City, MO, began printing Valentine’s Day cards. The company: Hallmark.

Today, some say Valentine’s Day has become too commercialized. However, some sociologists say if people did not want Valentine’s Day to be about buying things, they would not. Whether true or not, Valentine’s Day is here. Whether celebrating gifting a loved one expensive fowers, jewelry, or chocolate or celebrating the lesser known SAD, Single Awareness Day.

For more information, please see this article from NPR. However you celebrate, enjoy your Feast of Lupercalia, St. Valentine’s Day, or just Valentine’s Day.

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ports about $19 billion of damages occurred. During the storm, nearly 30 million gallons of water from the rain and storm surges flooded the Holland Tunnel. Saltwater, sewage, and debris caused severe structural damage to the tunnel’s infrastructure. The initial temporary repairs made the tunnel functional, yet it was always evident that major renovations would be required.

The Holland Tunnel Sandy Repairs and Resiliency Improvements project, currently planned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the governing body of the Holland Tunnel, will encompass structural, electric, and other systems and cost upwards of $364 million. About 84% of the funding comes from federal aid and grants like the Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery, a $4.2 billion grant given to New York to recover from the impacts of Sandy.

and Undergraduate Academics. The selection process mainly consists of identifying qualities in candidates like strong communication skills, adaptability, and inclusivity. Communicating the various resources available on campus, how to go through the process of scheduling classes for the frst time, and navigating the formidable orientation schedule are all things that Peer Leaders need to be able to communicate to their groups. Additionally, adaptability is critical because the huge infux of an entire class—now about a thousand students—results in a frequent need to rework plans, and having people in charge who can think “in a more fexible and agile manner is critical to success,” according to Smith. Finally, inclusivity is necessary because as Stevens grows more diverse, Peer Leaders must be able to run their activities and conduct their groups in a way that doesn’t result in the exclusion of any new students.

Smith said that becoming a Peer

Leader led to him forming many new friendships and other lasting relationships. He related a story about his friend Fay, who was his Peer Leader when Smith was an incoming freshman. Although they initially didn’t know each other well, going through Peer Leader training, which Smith called a highlight of the experience, resulting in them becoming close friends. “This is not a unique experience,” he said, explaining that by talking to Peer Leaders, one would quickly see that the program’s training is designed to forge a sense of unity and community that rubs of on the frst year students. “The most rewarding [outcome] for me was seeing the peers in my group make friends, and seeing them around campus with their friends doing fun things, laughing, and more.”

According to Smith, deciding to become a Peer Leader was one of the best choices he could have made. “I was so lucky to have an incredible orientation experience and frst year here at Stevens, and I want nothing more but to make that possible for everyone that drives through the 9th street gate in August. It has become one of my top priorities here at Stevens.”

The tunnel will be closed for six nights per week. Sunday through Thursday, the tunnel will be closed from 11 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. Friday night into Saturday morning, the closure period will be 11:59 p.m. until 9 a.m. The tunnel will, however, remain open on Saturday nights. This will continue until the end of 2025. However, there is a possibility that variances in the project could impact the scheduled resumption of normal operations. Despite the closures, many other ways exist to cross the Hudson River. Pedestrian passengers can still use NJ Transit trains and PATH trains as usual. The NJ Transit bus system will continue running but will experience some issues from the tunnel closures. The George Washington Bridge and the Lincoln Tunnel will remain open for drivers. However, both of these options experience delays during the overnight hours due to construction and maintenance, in addition to the extra volume due to the closure of the Holland Tunnel. Another way to get into the city for drivers is to park close to a PATH or NJ Transit station and take mass transit the rest of the way. For example, Journal Square, with a double-decker parking garage, access to the PATH and bus system, and easy access to the Pulaski Skyway via the Tonnelle Avenue or Routes 1 and 9 to get to I-78 or the Garden State Parkway are possibly the best options for those from farther than the immediate New Jersey-New York border.