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In Focus: Commencement Day

May and June is the time of year when commencement ceremonies are held at American colleges and universities. On Commencement Day, students receive a degree or diploma for the successful completion of a prescribed course of study – at both the bachelor and graduate levels. The term commencement is often used synonymously with graduation. It has been extended to include the closing exercises of secondary or even elementary schools. It is a time of celebration for students, their families and friends, and also for the faculty and staff of educational institutions.

American educational institutions were patterned after medieval European universities. In the early universities, commencement ceremonies were a sign that a scholar was ready to “commence” his teaching career. Harvard, America’s first university, held its first Commencement in 1642 with an academic procession and much pomp. The tradition was passed from Harvard to other American colleges and universities.

Today, in most colleges, graduates wear academic gowns and flat, tasseled caps (called mortarboards) to the ceremonies. The color of the tassel shows the kind of degree the graduate is receiving. Graduates may wear colored hoods or shawls to show the highest degree they already hold, and the institution that conferred it. At some universities, graduates also wear colored caps and gowns, but usually they are black. Each school, college or universities will have often developed other special traditions, but there are a number of common elements to a Commencement ceremony. These include a procession of students, the giving of diplomas, the reading of speeches and an official moment when the students are officially declared graduated. At that moment, in many universities, the graduates toss their mortarboards into the air.

The giving of diplomas is usually the longest portion of the ceremony. One by one the graduates come forward, and each of them receive their diploma or “sheepskin” (referring to the sheepskin parchment on which diplomas used to be – and sometimes still are – inscribed or printed) from the dean or the president of the university.

The speakers at a graduation or commencement ceremony normally include the salutatorian, an alumnus of the institution, possibly a well-known public speaker not necessarily associated with the institution, and the valedictorian. The title of valedictorian is given to the top graduate of the entire graduating class of an educational institution. This honor is traditionally based on grades, but consideration is also given to other factors such as extracurricular activities. The title comes from the valedictorian's traditional role as the last speaker at the graduation ceremony. The second highest graduate is referred to as the salutatorian. The speeches often take the form of good advice but some speakers use the opportunity to comment on world affairs.

For example, Secretary of State George C. Marshall announced the Marshall Plan –his plan for economic cooperation and to re-build Europe after World War II – at a Harvard commencement in 1947.