Northwestern seniors completed a new tradition as old as their time on campus this evening, marching through The Arch on the last day of their undergraduate education.

Just after 5:30 p.m., a couple hundred members of the class of 2013 walked from Deering Meadow to the school landmark they first entered during Wildcat Welcome in September 2009.

“I did it!” a few seniors shouted as they streamed out into the intersection of Chicago Avenue and Sheridan Road.

Leading the march were University President Morton Schapiro; Patricia Telles-Irvin, vice president for students affairs; and Burgwell Howard, assistant vice president for student engagement. Dozens of students surrounded Schapiro for individual and group photos with him at the foot of The Arch.

Schapiro credited Howard with coming up with another custom that fits the NU experience.

“We have some old-time traditions — painting The Rock and things like that — even Dillo Day goes back to ’71,” Schapiro said after the march. “It’s nice, thanks to him, to have some new ones … I was proud to be there with them.”

The event kicked off Senior Week, which continued this evening with a taco bar and beer garden on the Lakefill. It will conclude with commencement Friday and school-specific convocations Saturday.

— Patrick Svitek