Graduation

For Kanye West's upcoming album, see Graduation (album). For the song by Vitamin C, see Graduation (Friends Forever).

Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the associated ceremony. The date of event is often called degree day. The event itself is also called convocation or invocation. In the United States and Canada, it is also used to refer to the advancement from a primary or secondary school level. Many colleges have different traditions associated with the graduation ceremony, the best-known probably being throwing mortarboards in the air.

At many large U. S. institutions, where many hundreds of degrees are being granted at once, the main ceremony (in the sports stadium or other large venue) is followed by smaller ceremonies at sites around campus where faculty of each department distribute diplomas to their graduates. Another means of handling very large numbers of graduates is to have several ceremonies, divided by field of study, at a central site over the course of a weekend instead of one single ceremony. The final problem that arises is the large number of family members / guests that each graduating student wants to attend. Universities try to circumvent this by allocating a specified number of graduation tickets to each student that will be graduating. Students can then buy/sell/trade these tickets amongst each other via sites like www.graduationtickets.com or through their school's online forums, message boards, etc. Due to their nature, these tickets are often departed with at a premium depending on the level of competition.

In any case, typically each candidate is given a diploma by an academic administrator or official such as the dean or department head. It is also common for graduates not to receive their actual diploma at the ceremony but instead a certificate indicating that they participated in the ceremony or a booklet to hold the diploma in. At the high school level, this allows teachers to withhold diplomas from students who are unruly during the ceremony; at the college level, this allows students who need an extra quarter or semester to participate in the official ceremony with their classmates.

At most colleges and universities in the U. S., the faculty technically will recommend that each candidate be given a degree, which is then formally conferred by the president or other institutional official. Typically, this is accomplished by a pair of short set speeches by a senior academic official and a senior institutional official: "Mr. President, on behalf of the faculty of Letters and Science, I hereby declare that these candidates have met all the requirements for the degree of ... and request that such degree be conferred upon them." "Under the authority vested in me by the State of Iowa and the Trustees of Podunk College, I hereby confer upon these candidates the degree of ..."

Graduation speech

A graduation or commencement speech, in the U. S., is a public speech given by a student or by alumnus of a university to a graduating class and their guests. Common themes of the graduation speech include wishing the graduates well in the "real world", cautioning that the world of academe is a special place where they were taught to think (a common variation contradicts this view). Most recently, especially in prestigious institutions, the trend has been to find a celebrity (often one with no apparent connection to the specific institution or education in general) or a politician to deliver the speech.

Graduation Traditions

• At the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario a historical drill team performs at the "Sunset Ceremony" (a military tattoo the night before the graduation parade. Eighteen officer cadets, dressed in formal scarlet uniforms and wielding late 19th-century Enfield rifles fend off an attack by cadets dressed as rebels using similar rifles of smaller caliber. ^[1]

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, unlike the United States, students do not usually 'graduate' from school below university level. They will normally leave secondary school, high school or sixth form college (if applicable) with specific qualifications, often GCSEs and A-levels respectively (Standard Grades and Higher National Courses in Scotland). However, these are not diplomas and are not necessarily presented in a formal ceremony.

Many university graduation ceremonies in the United Kingdom begin with a procession of academics, wearing academic dress. This procession is accompanied by music, and a ceremonial mace is often carried. After this, an official reads out the names of the graduates one by one, organized by class of degree or by subject. When their names are called, the graduands walk across the stage to shake hands with a senior official, often the university's nominal Chancellor or the vice-chancellor. Graduands wear the academic dress of the degree they are receiving. Serving members of the armed forces may wear their military uniform underneath. Some of the older universities may hold their graduation ceremonies in Latin, whilst member institutions of the University of Wales hold their graduation ceremonies almost entirely in the Welsh language, even though few students understand either of these languages. The Latin section of the ceremony may include a rendition of an anthem, sometimes called the unofficial anthem of all universities, the De Brevitate Vitae, also known as The Gaudeamus.

University of Cambridge

There are, however, a number of variations. At the University of Cambridge for example, each graduation is a separate act of the university's governing body, the Regent House, and must be voted on as with any other act. A formal meeting of the Regent House, known as a Congregation, is held for this purpose.

Graduates receiving an undergraduate degree wear the academic dress that they were entitled to before graduating: for example, most students becoming Bachelors of Arts wear undergraduate gowns, which are black with a plain white fur trim, and not BA gowns. Graduates receiving a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD or Master's) wear the academic dress that they were entitled to before graduating, only if their first degree was also from the University of Cambridge; if their first degree is from another university, they wear the academic dress of the degree that they are about to receive.

The Open University

Due to the large number and geographical dispersion of students, unlike most UK universities, degree ceremonies at the Open University are not the occasion on which degrees are formally conferred. This happens in absentia at a joint meeting of the University's Council and Senate ahead of the ceremony. The University's ceremonies –- or "Presentations of Graduates" — occur during the long summer throughout Britain and Ireland, as well as one ceremony in Versailles.

Japan

Graduation Ceremony or 卒業式 (sotsugyôshiki)

(The following depicts the High School Graduation Ceremony in Japan)

In Japan, because the school year begins in April, the graduation ceremony usually occurs in early March. Third-year Senior High School students (equivalent to grade 12 in Canada and America) write their final tests in early February, so they are available to pass entrance examinations in universities prior to graduation. This hiatus of a few weeks may contribute to the emotional charge of the event.

Although Japanese schools differs greatly in sizes (from a mere dozen to thousands of students), the nature of the graduation ceremony itself remains similar. It usually takes place in the school auditorium or agora, or for poorer schools, in the gymnasium. Special drapes, curtains and scrolls are hung to the walls and doors. A certain number of chairs are reserved for parents (usually mothers) to come, as well as quite a few representatives of the local authorities. The students do not wear robes or mortarboards. Depending on the school, they might have to buy and wear a one-time only graduation uniform. Most of the time they simply wear their regular school uniform.

At first, all students from the 1st and 2nd grades (equivalent to grades 10 and 11) sit orderly and wait. Then the graduates march in to the sound of a classical march such as Elgar's Pump and Circumstance or a Walt Disney theme, often rendered by the school's brass band. A complex series of announcements are made, which cue the students to stand up, bow, sit down, either in unison or the graduates only. The homeroom teacher for each class calls out the names of his or her students in the usual gender-split alphabetical order. This means that boys are called out in alphabetical order first, then it is the girls turn. Upon hearing their names, the students say はい or "Yes" and remain at attention until all students have been called. Recently some schools have abandoned splitting the class by gender. Both the national anthem and school song are sung by everyone. The head of the student council reads a short congratulatory address to the graduates. This is not equivalent to a valedictorian speech. It is somewhat pre-set and heavily edited by the teachers responsible for the ceremony. Then the principal launches into a long-winded speech as is the tradition in most schools. Perseverance, hard work and patience are the most common themes brought up on the occasion.

The principal might wear a full tuxedo, complete with handkerchief and white gloves. The student's ID number and name (surname first) are read out loud, the diploma is handed over in full size (not rolled-up). The student receives it with both hand, raises it up in the air and bows to the principal before leaving the stage. There can be background music playing in the mean time, either from tape or CD, or provided for by the brass band.

Once the diplomas have been all handed out, a few more announcements and speeches are made, by PTA (parent-teacher association) representatives or someone from the municipal or local government, depending on the school's status. To the sound of another march, the students leave the auditorium and go back to their class for a final address by their homeroom teacher. During that time, the rest of the school, teachers and students alike, proceed to undress the auditorium, put the chairs away and clean up. A few moments later, the graduates are free to roam around the school, in and out of the teachers' office, saying their goodbyes to their favorite teachers and reminiscing the good times. Although some tears can be shed at the time, and genuine smiles are seen on all faces, the whole process remains stiff by North-American standard. There are no handshakes or hugs to be seen, but instead a lot of bowing and sniffling.

The regular calendar does not end with graduation. The next business day after the ceremony (usually a Monday), 1st and 2nd year students all come back to class. For another two to three weeks, the school functions without the 3rd year students present, which makes for lighter schedules (for the teachers), and quieter hallways at recess.

See also

• Academic dress
• Encaenia
• Matriculation

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