About the CeremonyThe Columbia University Commencement ceremony consists of degree candidate and academic processions; the awarding of University medals and honors; the conferring of honorary degrees in arts, laws, letters, and science; a Commencement address by the University president; and the conferring of degrees in course to students from eighteen schools, colleges, and affiliated institutions. The Columbia University Commencement is unique in that all degrees are conferred by the president of the University during the ceremony. Though the event is satisfyingly full of pomp and circumstance, it serves a true purpose; no candidate officially graduates until the Commencement ceremony is completed.
With 20,000 participants and guests and 11,000 degree candidates in attendance, the ceremony is an unforgettable, grand-scale celebration that appropriately marks the academic achievements of the University community. HistoryThe first Commencement of King's College, as Columbia University was originally called, was held on June 21, 1758, in St. George's Chapel on Beekman Street in lower Manhattan. Seven men were graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and four honorary degrees were conferred. The exercises were conducted almost entirely in Latin during the King's College period, and for yet another century classical orations formed a regular part of the program. These orations, usually in English, are now presented at the Columbia College Class Day. During the pre-Revolutionary period, the Commencement procession passed through the city streets from the College building on Park Place to Trinity Church. When King's College became Columbia College, in 1784, Commencement was held in various churches and halls throughout New York City. After the College moved to Forty-ninth Street and Madison Avenue in 1857, Commencement usually took place at the Academy of Music at Fourteenth Street and Irving Place. Since 1898, Commencement has been held on the Morningside Campus--at first in the University gymnasium, and since 1926 outdoors on Low Plaza. The eighteenth-century mace carried in the Columbia ceremonies was given to the University by the late Judge John Munro Woolsey, LL.B. '01, LL.D. '29. It is of Sheffield plate, topped with a king's crown over a design of acanthus leaves. Historically, the mace was a symbol of authority displayed in British courts; Columbia's mace represents the authority vested in the University president to confer degrees on students and honorands. Aside from a short interruption due to the Revolutionary War, Columbia's Commencement ceremony has occurred on a yearly basis since the colonial period and has become a distinct part of the fabric of New York City's rich history. This year marks the University's 255th academic year.
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| Did you know... | ||
Columbian Robert R. Livingston (1765 King’s College) joined Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Roger Sherman to write the nation’s founding document, the Declaration of Independence. | ||
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