Generally, I like academic rituals. I attended my first UTC graduation two years ago. It was also my last because I left it feeling humiliated, embarrassed, and ashamed. The tenor of the ceremony was rowdy, disrespetcful, and most unacademic. The speaker was shouted down, the sound system was incompetently operated, and the parents and friends of graduates mistook the event for a boistrous sporting event or a lowbrow fraternity party.
Before arriving here, I had taught for 20 years at an institution that required faculty attendance at graduation. I didn't mind it because the speakers were usually very good (Barbara Kingsolver, Vernon Jordan, Jessie Jackson, Eli Wiesel, Barbara Bush, and Ariel Sharon are just a few of the ones I can remember) and the demeanor of attendees was exemplary. The audience had some help:before the event, students were inspected for hidden alcohol (and nudity) beneath their robes and the few rowdies in the audience, should they occasionally become disruptive, were escorted unceremoniously out of the event to a waiting security vehicle.
These were academic rituals I was able to enjoy, as did many of my colleagues. Now I must decide about attending again, and I have decided I will be there on Sunday for the UTC event. But if it turns out to be another academic equivalent of a food fight or a mud wrestling contest, I'll hang up my robe for another few years and wait for some official assurance that things will change. There is much to be proud of here at UTC, but why go looking for opportunities to be humiliated? I very much hope that Sunday gives me a very different notion of what graduation can be here. But if chaos reigns anew, rather than condemning faculty who don't attend, I'll join them for another few years in boycotting the university's caricature of its most important academic ritual.
Bill
-----Original Message-----
From: David Garrison <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Fri, 30 Apr 2004 11:13:00 -0400
Subject: Re: [UTCSTAFF] Student Concern
Ah, Dan, et al., I walk into this one cautiously.
Background, part one: I did not attend either my BA or MA graduation
ceremonies. I did attend my PhD graduation, but only because my parents (in
their 70s at the time) had come from 1,200 miles away. At that particular
graduation, there were almost no faculty members other than those with
assigned roles in the ceremony. That was ok with me. I was there for my
parents, not for faculty members.
Background, part two: For the 12 years I taught at another institution
prior to coming to UTC, I attended 24 ceremonies--12 baccalaureate
services, 12 graduation ceremonies. Attendance was required, a la Dan's
suggestion. Though I would not have chosen to attend each of these events,
I did, and, usually, I enjoyed them. However, among almost all of my
colleagues, this requirement led to indifference, cynicism, and resentment.
Some fell asleep, many carried on long-winded, half-whispered conversations
during the ceremonies, and there was a half-bitter jockeying for position
in the line-up. (Who gets to march in first? Which school or college
carries the greatest gravity?) Almost all vanished as soon as the
ceremonies ended, though many also attended the after-graduation reception
(not required).
My considered opinion: Faculty (as well as students, staff, etc.) who wish
to attend ritual ceremonies will do so when they're able. Those who do not
wish to should not be compelled. Rituals work best and mean most when
participants choose them, not when they're coerced into them.
DG
David Garrison
Professor and Head
Department of English (2703)
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
615 McCallie Ave
Chattanooga, TN 37403
423 425 4238
423 425 2282 (fax)
mailto:[log in to unmask]
William Harman, Head
Department of Philosophy and Religion (# 2753)
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
232 E Holt Hall // 615 McCallie Avenue
Chattanooga, Tennessee 37403
(423) 425-4336 // fax (423)425-4153
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
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