At Geneseo, members of campus are always looking for ways to connect. Often, tea was traditionally used to bring people together for conversation and company.
The 1938-39 Student Handbook from the Geneseo Normal School describes a standing student committee devoted entirely to teas and hosting teas.
In 2014, then Interim President Carol Long revived the tradition, hosting several themed teas open to the community.
The College’s art collection includes a tea service made up of pieces from several 19th-century silver manufacturing companies, which came to the College as class gifts or from the personal estates of community members such as Bertha V.B. Lederer, Distinguished Service Professor of Art Emerita, who liked to serve tea during meetings with colleagues.