Introduction

Graduation and commencement ceremonies at academic institutions in the United States are often held in the months of May and June. This guide is designed to assist congressional offices with work related to graduation celebrations. It contains a brief history of the ceremonial tradition and the attire worn, sample speeches by government officials, presidential commencement addresses, and statistical resources on educational attainment and graduation rates from authoritative government sources.

History

The tradition of degree ceremonies originated in Europe in the 12^th century in the medieval universities of Paris and Bologna, and later in the English universities of Oxford and Cambridge in the 13^th and 14^th centuries. These universities were originally composed of apprentices who would learn a set of skills from a guild of masters; at the end of the period of study, the apprentice would achieve a testimonial of skill, referred to as a degree, which enabled him to begin to practice and teach his trade as a member of the guild. The term for the ceremony celebrating this achievement, commencement, derives from the Latin "to begin" (ad incipiendum).¹

Modern graduation ceremonies in the United States have evolved to include the rituals and attire from these European traditions, as well as newer traditions such as the march to Sir Edward Elgar's song "Pomp and Circumstance," first used at Yale University in 1905.

Attire

Modern graduation attire—hood, cap, tassel, and gown—has its origin in 12^th century medieval European universities. They have been worn at graduation and commencement ceremonies in the United States in some form since the colonial period and were standardized with the 1895 American Intercollegiate Commission at Columbia University.²

The gown originated with the standard attire worn by most Europeans in the 12^th century. At that time, gowns (i.e., long robes) were worn by the majority of the population for all occasions, often accented with cloaks for warmth. By the 16^th century, as fashions changed, these robes were worn mainly by professional men. By the 17^th century, only scholars, legal professionals, and other officials wore such attire.³

The modern hood signifies the degree of the person wearing it. It originally was an extension of the cloak, as supplemental fabric to cover the head for warmth and protection. It appeared as a separate article of clothing in the 13^th century but was not used as an indicator of rank for scholars, as it is today, until the 16^th century.⁴

The cap, or mortarboard, is thought to have originally been modelled either after the rigidity and square shape of a scholar's book or after a master workman's mortar board. The original square cap with a tuft, called a biretta, was replaced over time with the rigid square mortarboard and tassel commonly used today.⁵ In the United States, a common tradition arose at some institutions to toss the cap into the air at the end of the ceremony to signify the completion of a degree; this tradition originated at the graduation and commissioning ceremonies of the United States Naval Academy in 1912. Some institutions also incorporate the tassel into the ceremony, having candidates for degrees shift them from the right front side of the cap to the left at the moment degrees are awarded to them.⁶

Sample Commencement Addresses

The following are a sample of commencement addresses by Members of Congress and other government officials.

Commencement Address at the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at the City College of New York—General Colin Powell, Ret., June 8, 2015. [Video]

Commencement Address at Oberlin College—First Lady Michelle Obama, May 25, 2015. [Video]

Commencement Address at Tuskegee University—First Lady Michelle Obama, May 9, 2015. [Video]

Commencement Address at the University of Texas at Austin—Admiral William Harry McRaven, United States Navy, Ret., May 17, 2014. [Video]

Commencement Address at Emory University—Representative John Lewis, May 12, 2014. [Video]

Commencement Address at Duke University—General Martin E. Dempsey, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, May 5, 2014. [Video]

Baccalaureate Ceremony Address at Princeton University—Ben S. Bernanke, former Federal Reserve Chairman, June 2, 2013. [Video]

Commencement Address at Vassar College—Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, May 26, 2013. [Video]

Commencement Address at Benedictine College—Representative Paul Ryan, May 13, 2013. [Video]

Commencement Address at Oregon State University—First Lady Michelle Obama, June 17, 2012. [Video]

Commencement Address at Southern Methodist University—Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. Secretary of State, May 14, 2012. [Video]

Commencement Address at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill—Michael Bloomberg, former Mayor of New York City, May 13, 2012. [Video]

Commencement Address at Northeastern University—Colin Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State, May 4, 2012. [Video]

Commencement Address at Ohio Wesleyan University—Senator John McCain, May 9, 2010. [Video Part 1, Part 2]

Commencement Address at Southern Methodist University—former First Lady Laura Bush, May 16, 2009.

Additional resources for transcripts and video of past commencement addresses:

• The Best Commencement Speeches, Ever—NPR.org; and
• College Commencement Speeches—C-Span Video Library.

Presidential Commencement Addresses

Commencement Address at the United States Coast Guard Academy—President Barack Obama, May 20, 2015. [Video]

Commencement Address at Lake Area Technical Institute in Watertown, South Dakota—President Barack Obama, May 8, 2015. [Video]

Commencement Address at the University of California-Irvine—President Barack Obama, June 14, 2014. [Video]

Commencement Address at the United States Military Academy—President Barack Obama, May 28, 2014. [Video]

Commencement Address at The Ohio State University—President Barack Obama, May 5, 2013. [Video]

Commencement Address at thethe University of Michigan, Ann Arbor—President Barack Obama, May 1, 2010. [Video]

Commencement Address at the United States Air Force Academy—President George W. Bush, June 2, 2008. [Video]

Commencement Address at Furman University—President George W. Bush, May 31, 2008. [Video]

Commencement Address at Saint Vincent College—President George W. Bush, May 11, 2007. [Video]

Statistical Sources

Numerous federal and private sources maintain statistics on graduation rates and educational attainment in the United States. The following resources may be useful.

Educational Attainment—U.S. Census Bureau

Institutional Retention and Graduation Rates for Undergraduate Students—U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics

Public High School Graduation Rates—U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics

Footnotes

1.	Frank C. Baxter and Helen Walters, Caps, gowns, and commencements (Chicago: E.R. Moore Co., 1966).
2.	Ibid. See also Thomas Vinciguerra, "Graduation Gowns Explained," New York Times, June 5, 2005, at http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9405E6DC1538F936A35755C0A9639C8B63.
3.	Frank C. Baxter and Helen Walters, Caps, gowns, and commencements (Chicago: E.R. Moore Co., 1966).
4.	Ibid.
5.	Ibid.
6.	See "The History of Academic Regalia Commencement Apparel," Colorado State University, at http://commencement.colostate.edu/apparel.aspx; "Commencement FAQs," George Mason University, at http://events.gmu.edu/commencement/commencement-faqs/; and "Commencement: Regalia," University of Georgia, at http://commencement.uga.edu/traditions/regalia/.