As the fifth-oldest high school rivalry in the country, Hill and Lawrenceville’s friendly competition has been ongoing for 136 years as of 2025. With so much tradition and school pride embedded in the event, one might wonder: what do Hill and Lawrenceville students really feel about each other? Are sentiments truly friendly? Do they hate us? Do we hate them?
It seems that opinions clash, even within schools. A Lawrenceville student says she thinks people at Hill are “just generally well-rounded,” dedicated to both academics and sports. While she has no personal issue with Hill, she admits that the rivalry “fuels a little bit of unhealthy competition rather than friendliness.”
This seems to be the common belief across both campuses. While rivalries are fun and contribute to long-standing school traditions, the surge of school spirit during this week tends to spark biased feelings toward the rival school.
“I think Hill kids are mostly nice,” says Ethan Lee ’27 from Lawrenceville. “We just kind of villainize them for the spirit of the rivalry.”
On school opinions, Lee has a slightly more radical belief. Similar to many Hill sentiments towards Lawrenceville, Lee claims that Hill is “fine, just not as good as us”. For the sake of impartiality, we shall not dive into the correctness of his statement.
From Hill’s perspective, students recognize similar patterns. Jackson Bala ’27 admits that school pride can “boost certain stereotypes”. He notes that Hill students may view Lawrenceville students as “overly competitive or defined by privilege,” but believes those assumptions are misleading.
“The rivalry can make it easy to reduce them to ‘the other side,’” Bala says. “In reality, both schools share similar values. We both push for hard work, tradition, and pride in our communities.”
The spirit of rivalry is certainly important, but it is also true that the competition can become overwhelming. It may be beneficial for events to prioritize honoring the shared history and respect between the two schools, instead of only the rivalry itself.
Cecilia DeMarco ’28 agrees that rivalry stereotypes can be overstated. “Many people at Hill expect there to be a lot of animosity from Lawrenceville, which usually isn’t true—and if it is, it’s usually in good fun.” Furthermore, stereotypes range from derogatory comments to one Lawrenceville student’s belief that Hill is “extremely primp, proper and strict” and “strives to be like British boarding schools”.
Students may not realize this, but Hill and Lawrenceville share more in common that one might think. Both schools have students who complain about not having enough time to get ready for Hoco after returning to school; both have complaints that the long drive is not fun; both cherish the time spent with friends during the day.
Lee describes Lawrenceville’s spirit week leading up to Hill Day: themed dress-up days, a pep rally, and house-made banners—almost identical to Hill traditions. In concurance, Demarco points out that both schools are very similar in their traditions and history, though “Lawrenceville students think they’re better than us, which helps to drive the rivalry.” Still, her favorite moments of Lawrenceville Week—red meat dinner and the dance—are reminders that, in the end, school pride brings people together.
After 136 years, Hill-Lawrenceville Day remains more than just a game; it’s a reflection of two communities that, while divided by colors, share the same heartbeat of tradition, competition, and pride.