Pomp without much pomp

Late in the afternoon, the School of Public Health had its convocation ceremony.  It's one of the two events which faculty are "required" to attend. So, it's a time to see faces that you only see once a year and have to dredge from some corner conversation who is who. It's also a time when faculty can put a period after the name of students, if we were inclined to be dramatic. We see the rejoicing of families, meet spouses and kids and parents that you will never see again.

For those who have not been at a college or school convocation (as contrasted to a University commencement ceremony), the pattern is as follows: (1) faculty gather in one room where they pull thin, wrinkled gowns out of cardboard boxes, while students gather in a separate room and chatter excitedly, (2) each group eventually get led to the auditorium where we form a procession, lead by the University Provost, Dean, Distinguished Speaker, and others who go and sit on the platform (aka stage) while the rest of the faculty sit off the side and basically not seen again until we leave, (3) everyone on the platform has their 5 minutes of welcome, (4)  the speaker has 10 minutes for a speech, (5) the students finally get to proceed one by one across the platform to be hooded and hugged, and some family and friends make the process more interesting with outbursts of cheers, (6) the Provost pronounces that they are now officially awarded the degree, (7) brief good-byes, and (8) we have the exit procession. The whole thing takes 2 hours, give or take.

This year I was hooding a graduating doctoral student and so was in the front row of faculty. The advantage turned out to be that I got a clear view of the students as they lined up to go on the platform, and sat next to a very talkative faculty. We giggled and studied the footwear of the students lined in front of us. And,  in the spirit of good science, came up with some hypotheses on the inverse correlation of heal height and intelligence, and selected the best heeled division in the school. That we did all this intermingled with clapping and walking to the platform to hood our doctoral students is testimony to the lack of seriousness and the lack of pomp that we were experiencing.

For me this really means that in 31/2 months, we will be starting all over with a new batch of students. An endless cycle, not an ending nor a beginning. Just a point along the spiral.