Our school was founded on the traditions of scholarship and service to community. The Ephebic Oath was administered to the first new class of Townsend Harris High School at the convocation held at Queens College, October 25, 1984. Each class of Harris students renews this pledge on Founders' Day, when the entering class is administered the oath by members of the senior class.


The Ephebic Oath

I shall never bring disgrace to my city, nor shall I ever desert my comrades in the ranks; but I, both alone and with my many comrades, shall fight for the ideals and sacred things of the city. I shall willingly pay heed to whoever renders judgment with wisdom and shall obey both the laws already established and whatever laws the people in their wisdom shall establish. I, alone and with my comrades, shall resist anyone who destroys the laws or disobeys them. I shall not leave my city any less but rather greater than I found it.