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Don the cap and gown. Cue up the Elgar. UB's series of commencement ceremonies will begin next week, starting with the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences ceremony on May 4, and finishing up with the Law School graduation ceremony on May 19. If you are among those who are participating in this rite of passage, you no doubt have done the necessary preparations outlined by Student Affairs' Countdown to Commencement (http://www.student-affairs.buffalo.edu/senior/ceremony.shtml.
So you may be wondering: Why the cap and gown, anyway? Like a bridesmaid's dress, this outfit cannot be seriously worn for any purpose other than for its singular occasion. The Academic Apparel site (http://www.academicapparel.com/caps/cap-gown-history.html) offers excerpts from books on historical scholarly attire originating from the 12th century. Click on the menu on the left for similar essays on the history of colleges and universities, academic degrees and evolutions of gowns, hoods, caps and tams.
Most Americans will recognize the familiar march tune associated with graduation processionals, which is the trio from "Pomp and Circumstance no. 1" by Sir Edward Elgar. The origins of the use of this music stem from Elgar's conferral of an honorary doctorate from Yale University in 1905. The full story is at the official Elgar Society's Web site (http://www.elgar.org/3pomp-b.htm). While you read, you may wish to listen to a recording of the piece via the Naxos Music Library (http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/e-resources/NAXOS.html), one of UB's electronic resources.
The commencement speech is always a highlight of the graduation ceremony, for better or for worse. Speakers from all walks of life have addressed graduates, and results have ranged from inspiring to insipid, from motivational to depressing, from secularized sermon to formalized standup comedy. Two Web sites illustrate this kind of oratorical variety. You can read texts of commencement addresses judged as outstanding by the Humanity Initiative (http://www.humanity.org/voices/commencements/), ranging from the Dalai Lama at Emery University (1998) to Sting at the Berklee College of Music (1994)—plus a most telling title, "10 Ways to Avoid Mucking Up the World Any Worse Than It Already Is" (Russell Baker, Connecticut College, 1995). There also is a varied collection of commencement speeches by, among others, Jon Stewart, Oprah Winfrey, George W. Bush, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Will Ferrell, linked in a Yahoo directory (http://dir.yahoo.com/Education/Graduation/Speeches/).
This being the 160th year of UB graduation ceremonies, it is a good time to reflect upon your years here in the context of the university's history and traditions. The University Archives' multimedia exhibit of Student Life at UB (http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/archives/students/index.htm) displays photos, songs (both notated and aural) and other documents illustrating the social and extracurricular activities of UB students through the decades, from Homecoming weekends to the Oozfest.
The UB Alumni Association (http://alumni.buffalo.edu/drpl/node/2263) not only may help make your transition to post-UB life easier through career services, relocation, insurance, travel and financial plan offers, but encourages you to stay in touch with your alma mater via links to the alumni magazine, UB Today, newsletter, @UB, as well as to alumni events and reunions. Congratulations, Class of 2007. Before you embark on the next phase of your life's journey, take a little time to fill out the senior exit survey (http://ublistens.buffalo.edu/Senior_SP07/seniorindex.htm).
Best of success!
—Rick McRae, University Libraries