A graduation is the awarding of a diploma by an educational institution.[1][2] It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it, which can also be called commencement, congregation, convocation or invocation. The date of the graduation ceremony is often called graduation day. Graduates can be referred to by their year of graduation.
Ceremonies for graduating students date from the first universities in Europe in the twelfth century. At that time, Latin was the language of scholars. A universitas was a guild of masters (such as MAs) with license to teach. The etymology of "degree" and "graduate" originates from gradus, meaning "step". The first step was admission to a bachelor's degree. The second step was the masters step, giving the graduate admission to the universitas and license to teach. Typical dress for graduation is a gown and hood, or hats adapted from the daily dress of university staff in the Middle Ages, which was in turn based on the attire worn by medieval clergy.[3]
The tradition of wearing graduation hats in Sweden has been in place since the mid-eighteenth century. The cap is typically a white sailor hat with a black or dark blue band around it, a crown motif, and a black peak at the front. The graduation hat tradition was initially adopted by students at Uppsala University. The headgear then became popular across several other European nations as well.[4]
In a graduation ceremony for a college or university, the presiding officer or other authorized person formally confers degrees upon candidates, either individually or en masse. However, some graduates may physically receive their diploma later at a smaller college or departmental ceremonies, or even through the mail.[citation needed]
Ceremonies often include a procession of some of the academic staff, candidates, and a valediction. The students typically wear formal academic dress, such as square academic caps and gowns. The academic staff will usually also wear academic dress at the ceremony, as will the trustees (if applicable).[5]
Graduation in absentia
When a student graduates without attending the graduation ceremony, then it is called graduation in absentia.[6]
Female Finnish students graduating from high school, in 1906
The procedures and traditions surrounding academic graduation ceremonies differ around the world. In the United Kingdom a graduation usually only occurs at university level. Whereas in the United States and many other countries, graduations also occur at high schools where no higher education qualifications are awarded to the graduates.
In Sweden, most universities are research-oriented and may present their students with bachelor's, master's, and doctor's degrees covering all academic streams. Universities across the country are based through the Higher Education Ordinance. Most of the national programs provide Swedish, English, math and science among degree courses.
In Zimbabwe, graduation ceremonies are often associated with the guest of honor who most often is the ceremonial head of the institution. At state universities the president of the country officiates as chancellor and guest of honor. Every graduate of a state university in Zimbabwe can claim to have shaken the President's hand. The person most associated with graduation at those institutions is Zimbabwe's late ex-president Robert Mugabe. At other state institutions of higher learning, the vice presidents or other senior government officials may preside.[10]
Otherwise, in countries like Argentina and Uruguay, enthusiasm prevails over moderation, as well as taking part in an authentic carnival as part of the celebration that is mostly spontaneous, anarchic, and barely planned in the middle of the streets: hundreds of graduates, familiars and friends gather in an open place, carrying alcoholic drinks, eggs, flour and other messy food; pelting it all over the graduates; whereas the party is public and open to excesses that carry the complaints of all sorts of commerce, neighbours and authorities in the zone due to the concentration of public disorder and filth that lasts until the aftermath and overwhelms the municipal services.[11]
See also
Academic dress– Attire worn by students and officials at certain schools and universities for commencement
Academic dress is a traditional form of clothing for academic settings, mainly tertiary education, worn mainly by those who have obtained a university degree, or hold a status that entitles them to assume them. It is also known as academical dress, academicals, or academic regalia.
The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) is a public university in Harare, Zimbabwe. It opened in 1952 as the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and was initially affiliated with the University of London. It was later renamed the University of Rhodesia, and adopted its present name upon Zimbabwe's independence in 1980. UZ is the oldest university in Zimbabwe.
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases honoris causa or ad honorem . The degree is typically a doctorate or, less commonly, a master's degree, and may be awarded to someone who has no prior connection with the academic institution or no previous postsecondary education. An example of identifying a recipient of this award is as follows: Doctorate in Business Administration (Hon. Causa).
Valedictorian (VD) is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution.
An ad eundem degree is an academic degree awarded by one university or college to an alumnus of another, in a process often known as incorporation. The recipient of the ad eundem degree is often a faculty member at the institution which awards the degree, e.g. at the University of Cambridge, where incorporation is expressly limited to a person who "has been admitted to a University office or a Headship or a Fellowship of a College, or holds a post in the University Press ... or is a Head-elect or designate of a College".
A commencement speech or commencement address is a speech given to graduating students, generally at a university, although the term is also used for secondary education institutions and in similar institutions around the world.
A school leaving qualification is an academic qualification awarded for the completion of secondary education. Depending on the country or region, it may alternatively be known as a high school diploma, senior secondary leaving certificate, high schools general certificate or school certificate.
As the oldest college in the United States, Harvard University has a long tradition of academic dress. Harvard gown facings bear crow's-feet emblems near the yoke, a symbol unique to Harvard, made from flat braid in colours distinctive of the wearer's qualification or degree. Crow's-feet are double for earned degrees, and triple for honorary degrees.
A doctoral hat is a major part of Nordic academic dress of Ph.D. recipients in Finland and Sweden and differs from the square academic cap found in other parts of the world. It is a silken top hat with a straight brim, although the hats of Finnish Doctors of Science (Technology) have an up-turned brim. Generally the colour of the hat is black, although a few faculties use coloured doctoral hats. On the front, the hat has a gold-coloured metallic emblem of the granting university or faculty. The hat is awarded in a solemn graduation ceremony.
Academic dress prescribed at the Trinity College Dublin follows a relatively complex protocol which, nonetheless, shares some particular characteristics with other universities in Ireland and with its sister institutions at the University of Oxford and University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
The National University of Science and Technology (NUST) is the second largest public research university in Zimbabwe, located in Bulawayo. It was established in 1991. On 8 April 1991, NUST opened for the first time with 270 students in three faculties. The number of academic staff was 28.
Academic dress of the University of Manchester describes the gowns, hoods and headwear which are prescribed by the university for its graduates and officers.
The academic dress of the United Kingdom and Ireland has a long history and has influenced the academic dress of America and beyond. The academic square cap was invented in the UK as well as the hood which developed from the lay dress of the medieval period.
Academic dress has a history in the United States going back to the colonial colleges era. It has been most influenced by the academic dress traditions of Europe. There is an Inter-Collegiate Code that sets out a detailed uniform scheme of academic regalia that is voluntarily followed by many, though not all institutions entirely adhere to it.
The academic regalia of Stanford University describes the robes, gowns, and hoods which are prescribed by the university for its graduates. Stanford University was founded in 1891 and academic dress has been a part of academic life at the school since at least 1899. As in most American universities, the academic dress found at Stanford is derived from that of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, which was a development of academic and clerical dress common throughout the medieval universities of Europe. Today, also in common with most American universities, academic regalia is commonly seen only at graduation ceremonies. For most of its academic dress, Stanford follows the Intercollegiate Code of Academic Costume which was devised in 1895 and sets out a detailed uniform scheme of academic regalia. Stanford does make use of a distinct robe for its PhD graduates which is unique among American institutions of higher education in being based specifically on the doctoral robes of the University of Cambridge.
The procedures and traditions surrounding academic graduation ceremonies differ around the world.
The academic dress of McGill University describes the caps, gowns and hoods which are prescribed by the university for its degree candidates/holders. Until the mid-20th century, McGill also prescribed academic dress for its matriculating or enrolled students as well as its faculty. Founded in 1821, McGill University is consistently ranked as one of Canada's pre-eminent universities, and among the top 20 universities in the world.
Academic dress of King's College London describes the robes, gowns, and hoods worn by undergraduates, graduates and associates of King's College London. After being vested the power to award its own degrees from the University of London in 2006, graduates began wearing King's College London academic dress in 2008.
The academic regalia of Columbia University are the robes, gowns, and hoods which are prescribed by the university for its graduates. As one of the oldest universities in the United States, Columbia University has a long tradition of academic dress dating back to its founding in the 18th century, when it became the second university in the country to formally adopt academic robes. The development of Columbia's academic regalia has strongly influenced those of most universities in the United States. Since the passing of the Intercollegiate Code of Academic Costume in 1895, the style of academic dress worn at the university in the late 20th century has served as the basis of those of most other universities in the country. Though once worn daily by students at the university, caps and gowns now are only worn during commencement.
The first commencement at Columbia University in New York, United States was held on June 21, 1758, when the university, then known as King's College, conferred eight degrees upon its first graduating class. Today, the university graduates several thousand students each year from its several undergraduate colleges, graduate schools, and affiliated institutions. University Commencement traditionally takes place on the third Wednesday of May.
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