You know the tune, and as the familiar strains of "" waft through your memory, let's take a moment to reflect on the traditions that make the commencement ceremony at the 乐播传媒 Boulder such a special time.
One item that really puts the "pomp" into this celebratory occasion is the academic regalia of campus officials and our graduates. In 1896, the colleges and universities in the United States adopted a uniform code governing academic dress.
The Oxford cap, usually referred to as a mortarboard, has a long tassel that is fastened by a button on the top. Candidates for baccalaureate degrees wear the tassel pendant over the right front of the cap before the degree is conferred, and over the left thereafter. Doctoral regalia headwear often consists of a velvet four-, six- or eight-sided tam, and this is what many of our faculty wear as well.
Those who are receiving a master's or doctoral degree from the 乐播传媒 wear hoods lined with the university colors, silver and gold. While these silver and gold hoods are obviously the most commonly seen at our commencement ceremony, if you look closely you will notice faculty and commencement marshals wearing many different styles and colors of caps and hoods, each one representing the degrees conferred upon them and the universities from which their degrees were conferred. Those graduates who leave our campus and go on to pursue careers in academia can carry their CU silver and gold with pride in other institutions.
CU-Boulder has several other commencement traditions that make its ceremony unique and a reflection of the university's heritage.
The Norlin Charge to the Graduates
At each ceremony, a special guest is invited to read the charge that the late University President George Norlin addressed to the class of 1935. Dr. Norlin was a professor of Classics at CU from 1899 to 1942. For 23 of those years, he served as President of the University, and the library he helped plan during that time now bears his name. He devoted his career to two great causes: 听the life of the mind and love of this university, which he articulated in this charge to CU graduates:
The university is not the campus, not the buildings on the campus, not the faculties, not the students of any one time 鈥� not one of these or all of them. The university consists of all who come into and go forth from her halls, who are touched by her influence and who carry on her spirit. Wherever you go, the university goes with you. Wherever you are at work, there is the university at work. (President George Norlin)
You can read the full version of the Norlin Charge on the .
The Presidential Chain of Office and the University Mace
Many attendees of our commencement ceremony may wonder about the significance and meaning of these two items. The mace, carried by the commencement marshal, is the more visible item during the ceremony, but if you look closely you can also see university President Bruce Benson wearing the chain of office.
Both items are constructed from materials that symbolically and uniquely represent the State of Colorado and our university. Colorado gold and silver are used in both pieces to symbolize the importance of these minerals to the history of the state. The chain鈥檚 gemstones also consist entirely of minerals from Colorado, and the shaft of the mace was carved from a black walnut tree thought to have been one of the saplings given to the settlers of the Colorado Territory by President Abraham Lincoln.
For more information about the history and meaning of both objects, visit the .
The Alma Mater
The words 鈥淎lma Mater鈥� can mean both the school that you have graduated from, as well as the song of your school. CU-Boulder's Alma Mater provides a reflection on our newly-minted graduates connection to their institution, as they step from the world of the student into the role of alumni, and Forever Buffs:
Hail, all hail our Alma Mater!
Ever will our hearts be true:
You will live with us forever,
Loyal we will be to you.
We will sing forever your praises,
Ever more our love renew,
Pledge our whole devotion to you.
Dear old CU!
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Learn more about these traditions and more at the.
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