SMU Graduates More Than 2,000 at Spring Commencement

[MrMustang1965]

For those of you who think the DMN doesn't give SMU very much coverage, this pretty lengthy article on SMU's graduation ceremony appeared in Friday's edition.


By JAMES M. O'NEILL / The Dallas Morning News

It was graduation day at Southern Methodist University, and Dr. Brad Carter, a white-haired, gentlemanly professor, was on the verge of a meltdown.

There he stood, resplendent in academic regalia – long crimson robes with blue chevrons on each sleeve; a floppy, black velvet hat. Robed graduates and faculty waited behind him, lining a long hallway.

But when Dr. Carter pushed on a door of Moody Coliseum, it was locked. He banged. An usher stood nearby, engrossed in the swelling music, oblivious to the professor.

"That was the time I panicked the most," said Dr. Carter, who has been chief marshal of SMU's commencement for 16 years. "I was ready to take my shoes off and break the glass. Your heart goes, 'Oh God!' "

Luckily for the glass, he got the usher's attention.

Thousands of guests converge on SMU's campus Saturday to see more than 2,000 diplomas awarded. But few in attendance will know of the elaborate efforts since January to make the day come off without the kind of catastrophe Dr. Carter nearly experienced last year.

Colleges across the country have made similar preparations so that robed graduates can grab their sheepskin (it still really is sheepskin at Rice University) and march on to the rest of their lives.

These ceremonies are steeped in academic symbolism dating back centuries. But colleges also weave in their own traditions.

At the University of Texas at Austin, for instance, lights aimed on the University Tower switch from white to burnt orange when degrees are conferred. And at ceremony's end, fireworks burst from atop the bell tower.

Years ago, SMU had a single commencement ceremony. But as the school grew, it became tedious for every student to walk across the stage. Now, there's a morning commencement for all, where only doctoral students receive diplomas. Then, in the afternoon, smaller, intimate diploma ceremonies occur as students divide up by school or major.

"It was the brightest thing we ever did," Dr. Carter said.

During the smaller ceremonies, as each student is called forth, someone reads aloud their future plans.

"Sometimes those plans come as a shock to the parents," Dr. Carter said. "Students have used the opportunity to announce they're expecting, or that they're engaged."

Down to the last detail
You think they don't plan graduation weekend down to the smallest detail? Here's a sample from last year's instructions:

"Marshal Pulte (Section D) will seat Marshal Heslin in seat one of row B, and Marshal Elton (Section B) will seat Marshal Hunt in seat one of row A. Marshal Kennington (Section C) will seat Marshal Simon in seat 11 of row D. ... Please note that Marshal Hunt needs to stand aside to let nine students into her row, then she will sit on the aisle separating B and C."

Sounds like a torturous SAT exam question.

For nearly 50 years, SMU has ordered flowers for the main ceremony from McShan's Florist in Dallas. The flowers are flown in from California.

In the 1960s, former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara was to speak at graduation. Worried about hordes of anti-Vietnam war protesters, the Secret Service told Bruce McShan to have two crews and trucks ready to move the flowers at a moment's notice to a new location. In the end, the event went on as scheduled.

By last Tuesday, SMU staff had transformed Moody from a sports arena into a cathedral of academic pomp. Blue velvet curtains hung around the perimeter, and rows of chairs stretched across the basketball court. Workers placed a long, narrow plywood template on the floor after setting up each row, so the next row lined up exactly.

Each school arranges its smaller afternoon ceremony. The Meadows School of the Arts has its ceremony outside. The school rents 3,500 chairs from Ducky Bob's Party-Tent Rentals. It buys flowers at the Farmers Market – then holds an after-graduation sale for faculty and staff.

To beat the heat (it's expected to hit the 90s today), the school secured misting fans. And it sent someone to Sam's Club to buy 1,000 bottles of drinking water to put under chairs.

"With the heat, you have to be careful, because the students are wearing these robes made from fabric that's definitely not known to nature," said Greg Brown, the art school director. "Even a lot of the faculty wear shorts underneath their robes."

Flurry of activity
The last few days have been bedlam for the registrar's office. Not only were officials planning the ceremony, they also had to record student grades. Faculty must file grades within 48 hours of each final exam. But professors often miss the deadline.

"We have some faculty who are notorious repeat offenders," said Peggy Boykin, SMU's associate registrar.

SMU diplomas are ordered from Herff Jones, an Indianapolis-based company, and are printed in Kansas.

At 9:30 a.m. today, Ms. Boykin will be seated by the stage, timing the two-hour main event to keep it on schedule, since individual diploma ceremonies begin for some schools at 12:30 p.m.

Despite all the PowerPoint plans, there's a wild card that SMU can't control: the commencement speaker. Traditionally, the address takes 15 to 20 minutes. But one year – Ms. Boykin won't say who it was – the speaker went on for 58 minutes. (She was counting.)

"People started applauding before he was finished," she said.

Apparently he never got the hint.

[The XtC]

I went to the Sociology diploma ceremony to see Sarah Davis and Kendal Shead graduate. Reggie Gilford and Cedric Vinson also picked up diplomas, and the professors mentioned that Alvin Nbuife was supposed to graduate that day, but he was still in the Raiders camp. Jerad Romo's name was in the program, but I never did see him.