5 Interesting Graduation Traditions
Graduation is an exciting and important time for anyone completing their level of education. This ceremony is so ingrained into our culture, that over time, several schools have formed their own unique traditions to go along with the ceremony. From crazy hats to cursed campus locations, these are traditions that span the years of higher education graduations.
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- 10 years ago by NathanHutchcraft
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1 - 'Building' Your Education
While it is a common practice to decorate ones mortarboard hat for graduation, the architecture students at Notre Dame take it to the next 'level' (see what I did there?). The tradition is to decorate their caps with model buildings, houses, skyscrapers, amusement parks, and other ridiculous architectural designs. The overall effect is even more impressive than you would think, because when all the students are seated together at the graduation ceremony, the collective total of their caps creates an entire model city. The tradition has caused students to strive to create bigger and more impressive designs to feature on graduation day. Because of this, the school had to start seating all of the architecture students in the back rows during the ceremony, so that they don't distract the other graduates.
Source2 - The Circle of Knowledge
Starting in 1911, the 'diploma circle' is a tradition that the women of Smith's College (a women's liberal arts school) look forward to taking part in. At graduation, diplomas are handed out to the graduates at random; there is no telling whose you will get. Then, after all the diplomas are handed out, the ceremony concludes by the entire graduating class forming several large concentric circles. They pass around diplomas until they finally receive their own, at which point they drop out of the circle and join their family and friends.
Source3 - Planting the Seeds of Life
Warren Wilson College, in North Carolina, is known for it's commitment to environmentally friendly practices. The school operates as green as it can, and students are required to complete 100 hours of community service over the course of their schooling. Going along these core values, and symbolizing the individual growth of the new graduate, students are given small tree saplings (from seeds of trees on campus) during the commencement ceremony. They are then supposed to plant the sapling anywhere except on campus, usually where ever life takes the student after graduating. Students have gone on to plant these saplings all over the world, literally spreading the reach of their campus around the globe.
Source4 - The Rat Race
The 'Brass Rat' is the colloquial name for the graduation ring given to graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A long time tradition at MIT is for the students to wear the ring backwards during the ceremony, so that only the skyline on the ring is visible. Once the ceremony is over, they flip the rings around so that the year of their graduation can be seen.
Source5 - Scaling the Ivory Tower
At the University of Kansas, there is a large bell tower, called The Campanile, that is a defining landmark of the school. There is a common superstition that walking through the ground floor opening of the bell tower before graduation will cause a student to not reach graduation. Because of this, students tend to avoid the bell tower during their years at KU. At graduation, the entire graduating class is marched single file through the bell tower, signifying the completion of their academic journey. This event often takes over an hour, as KU is quite a large University.
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NathanHutchcraft
Nathan Hutchcraft is the creator and co-host of the YouTube web series, NathanAndRose. He also writes for several online sources, as well as having a nearly insatiable love for jalapeno pizza.
