Current commencement ceremonies put too much attention on oldheads like this guy and not enough attention on the students. I'm sick and tired of it! Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
Commencement. The pinnacle of student achievement. Walking up the ramp, receiving your diploma and waving to your family is an unforgettable moment in the lives of so many.
So why do most students not get adequately recognized?
Looking at past UAA commencements, I realized something: Commencement, in its current form, doesn’t recognize everyone. Only two students get the privilege to speak, while everyone else just gets their name read off and a photo with their diploma.
It’s time that UAA stopped playing favorites and recognized all students equally. Commencement doesn’t recognize all students, and that needs to change.
Starting out small, every graduate should get their own walkout song. Gone are the days of students getting in line to walk up. Instead, each student who has worked hard to graduate gets their moment to strut up the ramp to their song of choice.
From “Fat Juicy and Wet” to “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” graduates should get to have any song of their choice play as they walk onto the stage.
Once they get onto the stage, it’s time to recognize every achievement of the student, starting with extracurriculars. Any club or organization involvements will be read off, along with positions the student served in.
Leadership is leadership, whether it’s serving on USUAA or being the vice president of a sudoku club on campus. Students committing their time and energy to leadership roles on campus deserve to be recognized.
Following extracurriculars, students should be recognized by every faculty member they ever interacted with. Whether they spoke to a student once in a parking lot or taught them multiple classes, every interaction has a major impact on students.
Faculty also remember every interaction they’ve had with every student ever. Professors should come up with a personal anecdote for every graduate they’ve come into contact with.
Once a graduate has been recognized for their leadership and by professors, it’s time for their own speech.
Every graduate should get at least five minutes to speak. It’s important that graduates get to speak on whatever topic they please during their speech. Whether they’re graduating with a 4.0 or a 2.0, they’ve worked hard and earned the right to yap at the podium.
Following every rousing speech given by graduates, they should be recognized for their academic experience. Not just the degree they settled on, but every major they bounced between up until that point.
College is a journey, and no one knows what they’re going to be studying on the first or fifth attempt at selecting a major. It’s important that students are recognized for their achievement of navigating a Docusign every time they wanted to switch studies.
Finally, when receiving their diploma from university administrators, a live band should be playing “Pomp and Circumstance.” Students should network with important people until the song concludes, at which point they can walk back to their seat.
Opponents of these ideas will say that commencement would run for days if these changes were made and that ceremonies can’t go for that long. I say that students have worked hard deserve the maximum recognition for their achievement.
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