A Spring Ritual

We had our graduation last night. The frenzied, at times chaotic, week of finals all comes to a sudden standstill during Pomp and Circumstance as we entered the arena. A lot of my colleagues dislike graduation, and many even refuse to show up. But I enjoy graduation a lot. Here’s why I enjoy it:

1. At the reception before the ceremony I get to tell students good-bye. If I didn’t go to graduation, there wouldn’t be the same closure. Telling them good-bye when they turn in their final exam just isn’t the same.

2. The reception is also the only time when the staff, faculty, and administration of the university share an informal meal together. It is a nice time, a brief ceasefire in the ongoing conflict between the various interests on campus.

3. I love the embraces. It is the one time during the year when it is appropriate for faculty and students (of both genders) to hug. In my mind it is a small way of confirming that they are no longer our students anymore.

4. I love the ritual and the formality. The gowns, the confirmation of degrees, the honor cords, and the stoles are all elements of a very formal ceremony that has to be explained to the students. We need a lot more ritual in society today. Ritual is institutionalized, enacted memory and there are certain things that as a society we need to remember. The significance of graduation is one.

5. The speakers are usually brief. Someone has done a good job of convincing them that the evening is not about them.

6. There is the eminently mockable state official who inevitably sidles his way to the microphone (even though he is never on the program). “Oozing smarm from every pore, he oiled his way across the floor.” (My late mother-in-law used to quote that line and it fits so many people perfectly).

7. I love meeting the parents and grandparents. It is the one time during the year I look forward to meeting parents. (All the other times I meet parents, the conversation consists of me explaining that I cannot discuss Junior’s grades with them for confidentiality reasons). I get to brag on their children and watch while both the student and parent simultaneously swell with pride. (Fortunately, the bad students generally don’t want me to meet their parents).

8. The students get a diploma cover during the ceremony and receive their actual diploma afterwards. As a department chair, I get to hand them their actual diploma and say “Congratulations” again.

9. What I enjoy the most is the feeling of accomplishment in seeing students I battled with as freshman make the walk across stage. Some of them are single parents, many are first generation college graduates. In most cases, their degree of sacrifice is inspiring.

10. Graduations (like weddings) serves a useful purpose for the audience as well as the participants. The ceremony reminds all who witness it of the excitement of that period of life. That period when any dream seems possible.