Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Greetings Infomaniacs,
Graduation is an important right of passage for many young adults, and there is a lot of ceremony that goes along with this important event. So what does it all mean and where does it come from? Let's find out.
Enjoy!
Questions? Comments?
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WHO SAID IT?
QUOTE: "To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe."
HINT: (1844-1924), French poet, journalist, and novelist.
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RANDOM TIDBITS
It's thought that the practice of chucking one's cap to the heavens at the end of the ceremony started in 1912 at the U.S. Naval Academy's graduation. For the first time the Navy gave the newly commissioned graduates their officers' hats at graduation, so they no longer needed the midshipmen's caps they'd been wearing for the previous four years. To show how pleased they were, the new officers tossed their old headgear up in the air. When other students heard about the practice, they followed suit.
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The graduation song is often known as "Pomp and Circumstance," but it's actually a small piece of Sir Edward Elgar's 1901 composition "March No. 1 in D Major," part of his "Pomp and Circumstance Military March" series that spanned nearly 30 years of his career.
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Diplomas were originally written on a sheep's skin. Early paper was pretty fragile and difficult to make, but parchment was much more plentiful and durable. Parchment, of course, is made from the skin of a sheep, goat, or calf, and its durability made it ideal for a keepsake like a diploma.
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Originally, academic gowns served a practical purpose, not a ceremonial one. In the 12th and 13th centuries, teachers and students wore gowns and hoods to keep warm in cold school buildings. In 1321, the University of Coimbra in Portugal became the first school to require that its students wear robes. Oxford University organized the first baccalaureate ceremony in 1432, and students in attendance wore robes and recited sermons.
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Oxford University debuted the first cap and gown---the graduation attire that students still use today. Though other universities used round caps, Oxford's mortar board-style cap is the most popular and traditional form of academic regalia.
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Tassels often adorn today's mortarboard graduation caps. The earliest graduation caps used in Oxford, Cambridge, and other European universities had a tuft in the center. Today's tassels are a modern-day interpretation of these original tufts. It has become symbolic for a student to turn the tassel from one side to the other after graduating to signify a passing into the next phase of life.
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WHO SAID IT?
QUOTE: "To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe."
ANSWER: Anatole France.