SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY Ninety-Third Annual COMMENCEMENT CONVOCATION Saturday Morning The Seventeenth of May Two Thousand and Eight at Half Past Nine MOODY COLISEUM THIS IS FLY SHEET - CURIOUS TRANSLUCENTS IRREDECENTS SILVER #27 TEXT DOES NOT PRINT GRAY THIS IS FLY SHEET - CURIOUS TRANSLUCENTS IRREDECENTS SILVER #27 TEXT DOES NOT PRINT GRAY SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY In 1911, a Methodist education commission made a commitment to establish a major Methodist university in Texas. More than 600 acres of open prairie and $300,000 pledged by a group of Dallas citizens secured the university for Dallas, and it was chartered as Southern Methodist University. In appreciation of the city’s support, the first building to be constructed on the campus was named Dallas Hall. It remains the centerpiece and symbol of SMU. When the University opened in 1915, it consisted of two buildings, 706 students, a 35-member faculty, and total assets of $636,540. The original schools of SMU werethe College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Theology,and the School of Music. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church. The first charge of its founders, however,was that it become a great university,not necessarily a great Methodist university. From its founding, SMU has been nonsectarian in its teaching and committed to the values of academic freedom and open inquiry. Today, Southern Methodist University offers a comprehensive curriculum through Dedman College – the college of humanities and sciences – and six schools: Meadows School of the Arts, Edwin L. Cox School of Business, School of Engineering, Perkins School of Theology,Dedman School of Law, and Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. 4 The University offers over 110 undergraduate majors, Master’s degrees in over 100 areas, professional degrees in two disciplines, Ph.D. degrees in 25 fields, and 32 certificate programs. Enrollment for the 2007-2008 academic year was 13,716, including 7,779 undergraduate students and 5,937 graduate and professional school students. SMU students come from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 84 countries. About 45 percent of first-year students received some form of financial assistance for 2007-2008. About 22 percent of the student body are minorities; 63 percent of undergraduates and 54 percent of graduate students report religious affiliation; 12 percent are Methodist, 13 are Roman Catholic. Also represented in the student body are other Protestant denominations and other religions, including Judaism, Buddhism, and Islam. In addition to preparing students for graduate and professional schools, or more directly for their life’swork, the University strives to enhance their social, moral, intellectual, and religious development so that they may lead worthy lives as individuals and citizens of the nation and of the world. 5 THE ACADEMIC PROCESSION AND REGALIA The academic procession and the regalia worn by the faculty and officers of the University symbolically represent the continuing link between the modern American university and the founding of the great medieval universities in Europe – chief among them Bologna, Paris, and Oxford. As those institutions were derived from the Catholic Church, the universities adopted many of the ceremonial trappings of the church in their official public functions. The mace of the University,asymbol of the distinguishing characteristic is the long pointed authority vested in the president by the Board sleeves. Master’s gowns are arranged so that of Trustees and representing the covenant the armemerges from a long sleeve through a between the president and the faculty, is slit at the wrist (replacing a former slit at the borne by the president of elbow). In most cases, the the Faculty Senate. Doctor’s gown is marked Though the order of the by velvet panels down procession varies from the front and around the university to university, neck, and by three bars at Southern Methodist of the same material on University it proceeds the bell-shapedsleeves. It from the chief marshal is cut much fuller than through the ranks of the the other gowns and may faculty and the officers of the University to the be ornamented in color. Faculty colors are president, who is preceded by the mace-bearer. At occasionally seen in the sleeve bars and paneling. Commencement, the candidates for graduation precede the faculty. The caps, too, vary according to the customs of the university from which the wearer The caps and gowns worn in the procession received a degree. While most American also vary from place to place. There are variations universities adopted the “mortarboard” style in design to indicate the degrees held by the of Oxford, others have chosen styles based wearers, and many universities in America on other European institutions. The color of have introduced colorful gowns and other the tassel worn with the cap may be black for distinguishing details (in place of the customary any degree, or the color may be that of the clerical black from which all originated). faculty of the major field of learning(e.g., Arts, The Bachelor’sgown is a simple robe falling Engineering, Law, etc.). Persons holding in straight lines from an elaborate yoke. Its doctoral degrees and governing officials of 6 institutions are entitled to wear tassels of gold metallic thread. Such tassels are usually sewn in place. It is common practice, although not universal, that a ceremony is made of moving the tassel from the right to the left side of the cap at the moment the degree is awarded. Within the great varieties of styles and colors in gowns and caps, there has been one universally accepted code for the hood worn trailing down the wearer’s back. Originally, it was like the hood on the habit worn by monks and very useful for protection against the weather and even for begging for alms. Nowadays, the hood through length and color shows the degree and the specialization of the wearer, and the university that granted the degree. The Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctor’s hoods are 3 feet, 31/2feet, and 4 feet long, respectively. The velvet trimmingin the same order is 2, 3, and 5 inches wide. The color of the trim identifies the faculty. A partial list of faculty colors follows: Arts, Letters, Humanities – White; Music – Pink; Business – Drab; Philosophy – Dark Blue; Engineering – Orange; Science – Golden Yellow; Fine Arts – Brown; Theology – Scarlet; Law – Purple. The lining of the hood–that portion most visible from the rear – indicates the institution awarding the degree. SMU’s hood lining, for example, is blue with red chevron. The University’sceremonial banners were designed by Robert B. Chambers, Associate Professor Emeritusof Theatre, Meadows School of the Arts, and fabricated by Mamie Chambers. The banners bear heraldic designs with the color of trim identifying each school and group ushered this morning. Through these colorful ceremonies, SMU symbolically displays the continuity of its educational purposes with the origins of organized learning in the Western world. Thomas R. Arp Associate Professor Emeritus of English LornL. Howard Professor Emeritusof Electrical Engineering, Chief Marshal Emeritus 7