CLASS DAY, in American colleges and universities a day on which the members of the senior or graduating class celebrate the completion of their courses. The ceremony may take the form of a literary programme involving the reading of the class history or the class poem, the delivery of the class oration or the presentation of the class play ; it may include, too, the plant ing of the class ivy or the class tree or the burning of books in a huge bonfire to signify liberation from class-room routine. Formal presentation of a memorial gift to alma mater, athletic contests, campus singing, receptions, banquets and other forms of entertainment reflecting the traditions of the institution may also characterize the event.