This year's Commencement will be the 229th anniversary of a celebration which began when four men, who had all spent their first three undergraduate years at Yale, received degrees from Dartmouth College, as spectators feasted on a roasted ox provided by the New Hampshire governor.
While the Commencement exercises have evolved considerably since then, in more recent decades, very few changes have been made to the ceremony's traditions.
Today, the ceremony starts with a procession led by the dean of the College, the president and the provost. They are in turn followed by the Trustees of the College and the vice president and treasurer.
Graduating seniors receiving honors come next, accompanied by members of the faculty. The remaining faculty members, the different colored hoods of their robes designating their area of study, follow this group and last, the candidates for bachelor's and graduate degrees take their seats.
After an opening prayer by the College chaplain and a Psalm sung by the Dartmouth Glee Club, the degrees are conferred in the fields of Business Administration, Engineering, Arts, Science and Liberal Studies and Medicine.
Next, the commencement speaker addresses the audience. The announcement of who the speaker is going to be is eagerly awaited by students every year, and the address is an integral part of the ceremony. Originally, representatives of societies in the graduating classes held speeches, until they began choosing a distinguished speaker who was not part of the College.
After the speaker, the College valedictorian delivers his or her speech, the dean of the faculty confers the Bachelor of Arts degree on the members of the graduating class, and the College president gives his speech to the seniors.
Finally, after a singing of the alma mater, the College president addresses those assembled again with closing remarks, and the graduates march out.
Honors and speeches have always played a large role in the commencement ceremony. In the early days, the salutatory, given in Latin, and the valedictory, held in English, were reversed in rank. While large parts of the ceremony used to be in Latin, English became the main language over the years.
Three artifacts constituting the College heirlooms are a part of the Commencement exercises. The College Charter, signed by John Wentworth, the Royal Governor of New Hampshire in 1769 is a symbol of Dartmouth's founding and its institutional existence.
During the Commencement procession, the College steward carries a copy of the charter rolled up in a tube.
An oval medal, one side gold, one side silver, given as a gift to the second College president in 1785, is worn on a gold chain by the president of the College during Commencement.
Finally, Lord Dartmouth's cup, two feet high and cast in silver, was given to the College by the ninth Earl of Dartmouth during the College's bicentennial celebration. The College usher carries the cup escorting the Board of Trustees during the Commencement procession.
