Penn’s 267th Commencement will take place on Monday, May 15, at Franklin Field. The ceremony, which is preceded by an academic procession through campus, will feature the conferral of bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees by President Liz Magill, the awarding of six honorary degrees, greetings by University officials, and remarks by Commencement speaker Idina Menzel, a Tony Award-winning actress, singer and songwriter, producer, and author.
This year’s Commencement will bring together thousands on campus to celebrate Penn’s newest graduating class, their accomplishments, and promise for their future. Many traditions—big and small—that will take place have been set in stone for years, some even dating back to Penn’s very first Commencement in 1757. Penn Today takes a closer look into some of the rituals that help commemorate the joyous occasion.
Regalia
Adopted at Penn as early as 1759 from England’s style of academic dress, the institution has regularized the wearing of regalia—gowns, hoods, and caps—of students, faculty, and trustees at Commencement, with the specifics being determined in 1895 and 1896 as part of the American Academic Costume Code. Today, gowns vary according to the highest degree awarded to the wearer: Those earning a bachelor’s degree wear gowns with pointed sleeves; those earning a master’s degree wear gowns with oblong sleeves; and those earning a doctoral degree wear more elaborate gowns with velvet (in a color distinctive to a field of study) in the front and along the sleeves, which are bell-shaped. Those with a Penn doctorate may wear red and blue gowns.
Historically, hoods were believed to be worn over the head to keep warm. They’ve remained an important decorative piece of the academic costume, with the silk lining of the hood representing the University’s colors, which were established by the University in the early 1870s (at Penn, the hoods are lined in red with a blue chevron). The binding or edging of the hood is velvet, with widths of 2 inches, 3 inches, or 5 inches for the bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degrees, respectively. The color of the border indicates the field of study to which the degree pertains. The colors signifying degrees granted by Penn include white for arts and letters (B.A., M.A.), golden yellow for science (B.S., M.S.), mustard for business administration, apricot for nursing, green for medicine, purple for law, brown for fine arts (including design), lilac for dental medicine, gray for veterinary medicine, light blue for education, citron for social work, and dark blue for philosophy (Ph.D).
The mortarboard cap is standard, though soft square-topped caps are permissible. In more recent years, it has become popular for students to decorate their caps with meaningful words or pictures, though this practice is discouraged by the University. Recipients of doctorates may wear a gold tassel fastened to the middle point of the top of the cap; all others wear black. At Commencement, graduates wear the tassel on the right side, moving it to the left when their degree is conferred. Faculty participating in academic ceremonies wear the tassel to the left throughout the proceedings.
Academic procession and location
Trustees and the provost held Penn’s earliest Commencements in the hall of the original campus on the west side of Fourth Street, just south of Arch Street, in Old City. Beginning in 1802, when the College and the Department of Medicine moved to a new campus on the west side of Ninth Street, between Market and Chestnut streets, a procession would for 15 years regularly march through the city streets back to the hall of the University’s former location. Commencement would then see a series of new locations: at Washington Hall, the Masonic Hall, and the Hall of the Musical Fund Society. Academic processions from campus to these locations became the norm.
In 1868, Commencement was moved to the Academy of Music. When the University moved to West Philadelphia in the early 1870s, it would see massive growth of students in the years that followed, who, when graduating, would all process from 34th and Walnut streets to the Academy at Broad and Locust streets. It became a public spectacle, with trustees, the provost, and faculty riding the 20 blocks in horse-drawn carriages, with the soon-to-be-alumni marching behind.
In 1912, Commencement was moved to the Metropolitan Opera House (which has in recent years been completely renovated and reopened), before relocating permanently to West Philadelphia. Between the years of 1922 and 1932, the celebration would take place at the Weightman Hall field house and the Palestra. Records show that in 1922, Penn graduated 1,196 graduates—its largest class at the time—making it necessary to hold a separate morning and afternoon program, as Weightman couldn’t hold the full group and their family members at once. By 1932, Commencement would be moved, for the most part, to the Municipal Auditorium, also known as Convention Hall, on campus at 34th Street, just below Spruce Street, until its transfer to Franklin Field in 1986. (There was at least one year, in 1948, that Commencement took place at The Quad).
In 1955, the University mace, the symbol of authority of the University, was carried for the first time in Penn’s history, when the institution formally opened its 216th year. It’s possible that ever since, the secretary of the University carried the mace at the head of the academic procession at Commencement. It was a gift of the family of William Murray Gordon, a member of the Class of 1910 School of Medicine, who died in 1949. The 3-foot-4-inch long, four-pound object, which outside of special campus events can be viewed at College Hall, is adorned with the seal and arms of the University, the Penn and Benjamin Franklin coats-of-arms, a depiction of the Rittenhouse orrery, and a thistle symbolizing the early ties of the University with Scotland.
Following the mace bearer in the procession is Penn’s president, provost, trustees chair, Commencement speaker, candidates for honorary degrees, deans, trustees, officers of the University, faculty, and advisors. A newer custom, likely to have started in the 1970s when the traditions of an alumni parade merged with Commencement, is the inclusion of alumni in the procession, with flags marking their years. Today, viewers will notice those celebrating their 25th and 50th class reunions process. (Penn started including the 50th reunion class in 1975, and the 25th reunion class in 1993). Other years have one representative who carries their class flag during the procession, a tradition that first took effect in 1991.
Music
In the colonial period, Penn’s close ties to the Church of England and to the Penn family proprietors of the province were evident as the provost and high provincial officials conducted Commencement with prayers and sermons from the Anglican church service. Records show that music has been part of the Commencement programming since at least 1760, with an account of that Commencement mentioning:
At the Close of the whole, the Audience was most delightfully entertained with two Anthems sung by several Ladies and Gentlemen, who have not been ashamed to employ some of their Leisure Hours in learning to celebrate their Maker’s Praises with Grace and Elegance.
One of the Students [Francis Hopkinson], who received his Master’s Degree on this Occasion, conducted the Organ with that bold and masterly Hand, for which he is celebrated; and several of the Pieces were also his own Composition. In a Word, the whole gave great Satisfaction to strangers as well as others; and certainly such Improvements in useful Science and polite Arts, in this Part of the World, must give a very high Pleasure to every ingenuous Mind. (Pennsylvania Gazette; May 15, 1760)
In the 19th century when Penn held Commencement off site, the institution would hire an orchestra. From 1826 to 1842, famous African American band leader Francis Johnson provided the music to the School of Medicine Commencements, with documentation at Penn Archives showing the actual receipts, in Johnson’s handwriting, for the school. (The Penn Libraries also maintains a collection of Johnson’s sheet music.) Other instances of an orchestra were in 1855, with a program listing “Orchestra Under the Direction of Mr. B. C. Cross” and in 1858, with a program listing “Music by the Germania Orchestra,” and more.
There are also records showing that before 1776, British Army bands, likely made up of about eight to 10 musicians, would play throughout the academic procession before the Commencement ceremony. There is evidence that other processionals included fifes and drums. It wouldn’t be until the late 1980s that documentation would begin to detail traditional bagpipers during the procession, which remain a special tradition today and could have ties, too, to the University’s connection to Scotland.
Other special musical traditions today include the Penn Band participating in the procession, and the singing of the National Anthem by a graduating senior and the singing of “The Red and Blue,” led by the Penn Glee Club, during the ceremony.
Honorary degrees
Honorary degrees are considered important statements of Penn’s values and aspirations. The honorary degree process is managed by the Office of the University Secretary, and all members of the University community are welcome to submit nominations. The University Council Honorary Degrees Committee, with a membership of faculty, staff, and graduate and undergraduate students, is charged with reviewing nominations from the fields of scholarship and academic achievement and advising the Trustee Committee on Honorary Degrees and Awards. The Trustee Committee considers recommendations from the Council Committee as well as other sources and makes final selections. Field of consideration for honorary degree nominations include Arts and Culture; Business; Education; Entertainment and Media; Humanities and Social Sciences; Public Affairs; Scholarship/Academia; and Science, Technology, and Medicine.
Penn’s honorary degree program extends to its very first Commencement in 1757. Always a celebration of student achievement, as Penn evolved as a state school and during political upheaval, honorary degrees began being distributed to heroes of American Independence. Some honorees included Thomas Paine (in 1780), George Washington (in 1783), Charles Thomson (in 1784), and the Marquis de Lafayette (in 1787).
Until the very late 1800s, Commencement was mostly orated by graduating students in Latin, Greek, and English. It evolved, largely during the leadership of Provost Charles Custis Harrison, to include the provost (before 1930, the University’s leader was called a provost, not a president) delivering the introductory address and one of the honorary degree recipients delivering a keynote address, similar to the pomp and circumstance that is seen today. More recent Penn honorary degree recipients and Commencement speakers include Lin-Manuel Miranda (in 2016), musical artist and activist Bono (2004), former U.S. President Jimmy Carter (1998), and First Lady Barbara Bush (1990). The Penn Archives maintains a collection of Commencement speeches online.
Visit the University’s Commencement page for more information on this year’s celebration. For more information on specific Penn Commencements and Penn history, visit the University Archives & Records Center Commencement Notes and Penn History pages.
