Deceptively austere, commencement at Dartmouth is a tradition with a colorful past.
No less than 230 years have gone behind perfecting the ceremonies that take place today. The trial and error of times past have produced some extraordinary results, including the inclusion of gamblers, the secret service and a Native American speaker sitting in a tree.
The Class of 1771
Wednesday, August 28, 1771 saw the first College commencement, which took place where Reed Hall now stands.
Four students were awarded diplomas that day, ending their one year at Dartmouth. All of them had transferred to the College after three years of education at Yale University.
The ceremony began and ended with a prayer, and included orations in Latin and English.
Supposedly, a Native American student delivered a graduation address from the branch of an overhanging pine tree.
College founder Eleazar Wheelock planned a large feast for his guests, which included New Hampshire Governor John Wentworth. Wentworth, along with 60 guests, traveled from Portsmouth to attend the event, graciously bringing rum and an ox.
However, the chefs found their way to the rum and never touched the ox, being too drunk to prepare the banquet.
The Program
Early commencements typically included 10 to 20 speeches given in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Chaldaic, French and English.
However, the graduating class was not the only thing that was growing in size by 1835.
College President Nathan Lord held the notion that "ambition and emulation are selfish principles, and therefore immoral," and abolished all competition, class ranks and honors designations.
Under this principle, Lord insisted the entire graduating class -- 48 members in all -- present a ten-minute speech, eliminating the competition to become a speaker.
In 1898 the number of speakers was reduced to six, and then to three in 1920. Since 1939 commencement features only one student speaker.
The Commencement Committee used to select this student and his speech was called "Valedictory to the College."
Now, the student with the highest grade point average typically gives an address. The one and only time the valedictorian title was shared happened in 1997 when Daniel Fehlauer and J. Brooks Weaver's GPAs were separated by 0.00026455 points. They both addressed their class at Commencement.
Commencement Guests
While the 10,000 people participating in Commencement today will probably prove to be a polite crowd, guests were not always so well-disposed.
In the early 19th century, New England residents considered Commencement to be a major social event, attracting a large and rambunctious crowd.
According to a Commencement history written by late College professor Francis Lane Childs '06, "the inhabitants for twenty miles around celebrated Commencement in much the same manner as fall muster or the agricultural fair ... The entire south end of the Green had every available spot occupied by booths and tents, from which were dispensed all kinds of food and drink, patent medicine, knickknacks and gewgaws, soap and cologne, and an endless variety of miscellaneous articles. Jugglers, mountebanks, sideshows and auctioneers were numerous."
Commencement in 1833 included an array of "peddlers, gamblers, drunkards and shows," highly undesirable elements compared to the parents, friends and grandparents of recent audiences.
"I should think there were in sight of one another 30 places of gambling," said one observer. "During the graduation exercises in the meeting hall, the vociferations of a dozen auctioneers were to be distinctly heard in the house."
Lately, however, Commencement guests have been slightly more prestigious.
President Dwight Eisenhower came in 1953, speaking in front of 10,000 in the Bema, where they moved Commencement in order to accommodate the large audience.
Eisenhower gave an impromptu speech that denounced McCarthyism and censorship.
"We have got to fight [Communism] with something better, not try to conceal the thinking of our own people," he said.
"Don't join the book burners," Eisenhower pleaded. "Don't think that you're going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don't be afraid to go in your library and read every book, as long as any document does not offend our ideas of decency. That should be the only censorship."
Security measures were tight during his visit.
Donald Gross '53 said there were "secret servicemen in the windows of Baker and machine guns on the roof." Bodyguards also dressed in camouflage appropriate for the occasion - caps and gowns amid a jungle of graduates.
History Professor Jere Daniel '55 recalled the presence of a secret serviceman stationed in the revolving door at the front entrance of Baker.
"A German shepherd dog came running out of the library and headed for the platform. Without flinching a muscle -- I mean these guys must have had eyes in the back of the head -- one of them lifted the dog right off the ground," he said. "That was one surprised dog."
President Bill Clinton's visit to the college in 1995 garnered a huge audience, prompting Commencement's move to Memorial field.
Clinton praised the merits of and importance of education in today's society in his address to the graduates.
"If you live in a wealthy country and you don't have an education, you are in trouble," he said. "We cannot walk away from our obligation to invest in the education of every American at every age."
Peter Hecht '95 fell ill with meningitis the day after shaking Clinton's hand, sparking an alert with the White House physician.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ralph Waldo Emmerson, Walt Whitman, Robert Frost, Leonard Bernstein and Walter Cronkite are some more examples in the long list of prominent speakers who have graced commencement platforms.
Location
In 1996, Commencement moved to the Green where it is now held annually. The Green is considered the best place to accommodate the 10,000 people that attend the crowded event.
No rain location is planned because no indoor venue can hold such large numbers, and parents have expressed the desire to sit in the rain over having relatives miss the ceremonies.
Other places that have accommodated commencement in the past have included the area where Reed Hall is now situated, the College Church on the north side of the Green, Webster Hall, an amphitheater in the Bema and finally, the area in front of Baker Library.
These changes in location took place primarily because of increasing crowds and the need to seat the entire audience comfortably.
The Gala
A recently created tradition is the Gala that takes place the evening of the Saturday before Commencement.
Five years ago, Director of Student Activities Linda Kennedy and her staff began organizing a large party in Collis for graduating seniors and their guests.
Performances by student groups such as a cappella, dance and rock bands entertain the 2,000 people who show up.
According to Kennedy, the gala has always been a successful event, with visitors packed cheek to cheek throughout the building.
The principle behind holding such an event was to provide a celebration affair suited for all ages that did not require tickets or money, so that an entrourage of relatives and friends -- large or small -- could attend without the pain or hassle of planning it out.
