A brief follow-up. This was my first UTC graduation and I was ashamed and
embarrassed to be a part of it. Why invite distinguished guests to speak if it
is likely that they will suffer the insults of an abusive crowd? Why ask
faculty and students to don academic garb for a solemn occasion when
self-indulgent fools in the galleries make a mockery of it all? Some
suggestions: a sound system that works. I mean really works. I was 40 feet
from the speaker and could barely hear him. Of course the folks up in the
nose-bleed bleachers couldn't hear, couldn't participate meaningfully in what
was going on. A booming, well-designed sound system would help tremendously.
Excluding 80% of the attendees from access to a speech that lasted 20 minutes
is asking for trouble, no matter how you cut it. I've been to boxing matches
in which the acoustics were far better.

But my actual suggestion is an outdoor ceremony, where, again, a good sound
system will dominate the audible air space; and where occasional cat calls and
impudent antics can't be heard so easily. In the gym, the acoustics are made
to amplify screams and yells. Yes, it might rain; and in that case the
ceremony can shift quickly and easily to the gym where seats don't have to be
set up. My problem with graduation in the gym is that it is a space in which
people are accustomed to  (indeed, expected to) yell, scream,jeer, cheer,
curse, and root. Indeed, specialists (cheerleaders) are trained to encourage
and incite such behavior. It's almost disloyal not to be rowdy.  The context
encourages such behavior, and I don't think we can expect most folks to grasp
that they are in the midst of something completely different. Behavior is
often context specific, and anyone walking into that place knows instantly
what kind of behavior it is intended to evoke. The simple truth: academic
ritual is out of place in the gym.

Finally, I was surprised and annoyed that at least two people who
single-handedly interrupted the proceedings were not hauled off by security.
They should have been roughed up and kicked out. This stuff will happen as
long as the University tolerates (i.e., condones) it. Orientation,
preparation, and warning would be a nice way to start. Firm responses to
disruptive behavior need to be the flip side of that coin. Otherwise, the
granting of degrees, and by implication the degrees themselves, become an
implicit joke. Yes, maybe selling seats would make sense. The money made could
be used to purchase a sound system that works.

Bill




>===== Original Message From Oralia Preble-Niemi <[log in to unmask]>
=====
>I don't think the fact that Brent Phillips' family was not able to hear
>anything at graduation was due in any way to the large number of people who
>were in McKenzie Arena during commencement last Sunday.  I graduated in a
>class of several thousand students (each one being allowed two guests), and
>even though the ceremony was held outdoors, everyone heard every word that
>was said.  The problem last Sunday, in my opinion, was the incredible
>rudeness of many of those in attendance.  I admire the speaker for his
>grace in attempting to deliver a meaningful speech over the low-level roar
>in the house.  If I had been him, I think I would have stopped and asked
>for quiet.
>
>Do we have to put up with the raucous atmosphere that has become the norm
>at graduation?  A colleague expressed the idea that it was OK because
>graduation was a time of celebration.  I disagree.  I think the
>commencement exercises are a ceremony, and should be held in the kind of
>atmosphere one expects at ceremonies.  That is not to say that there should
>be no celebration, of course; but it should be held until after the
>ceremony is complete.  How many of us graduated in classes that saved their
>celebratory exuberance for the end, when we were pronounced "graduates" and
>sent our mortarboards and shouts of triumph and celebration up at that
>time?  I would venture to guess the majority of us.  It is rude and
>thoughtless for the guests of one graduate to hoot and holler over the
>names of at least the two graduates whose names are called following the
>graduate they came to support.
>
>Is there a solution?  I think there might be.  Perhaps we should think
>about doing what many universities with large graduating classes are now
>doing:  limiting the number of guests for each graduate or charging a fee
>to enter (and, I would suggest, a VERY HIGH fee for bringing in a horn or
>cowbell).  We should also make an effort to stop the trivializing of the
>graduation ceremony--yes, it IS a ceremony.  Students should be informed of
>the significance of their robe and mortar board before graduation
>day.  They should also be taught to put the latter on properly; it is a
>hat, not a halo.  They should be told that neither cap nor mortarboard is a
>canvas waiting for their creativity.  Also someone on the platform should
>ask the guests to please hold all applause until all the names for each
>college are called, and the program should have several reminders about
>this printed on it.  In keeping with the "SACSification" of everything on
>campus this year, I have put these as "should statements", but maybe they
>are really "must statements".
>
>As for splitting the Spring graduation, I do not agree with that notion at
>all.  It would mean asking the speaker to do his speech twice, or hiring
>two different speakers.  It would mean incurring additional expenses.  It
>would mean we would have four graduations to attend each year!
>
>Lala
>
>At 10:55 AM 5/10/02 -0400, you wrote:
>>Perhaps it was because there were too many people. Maybe they should
>>split the graduation in half. My family was sitting so high they were
>>unable to hear anything being said.
>>
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: UTC Staff E-Mail List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
>>James Russell
>>Sent: Monday, May 06, 2002 2:10 PM
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: [UTCSTAFF] Tractor-pull
>>
>>The above message title is what yesterday's graduation ceremony
>>resembled
>>for me.  Each year the crowd in attendance at the May graduation seems
>>rowdier than ever.  Yesterday's group took the prize.
>>
>>I have been thinking of what might be done to improve the ceremony.  I
>>cannot think of anything that can be done to alter the behavior of the
>>families who bellow uproariously and in a prolonged fashion when a
>>member
>>of their tribe receives the fake sheepskin.  Some people are so
>>self-absorbed that they think that they have the right to do anything.
>>
>>But they should not act rudely during the address by the commencement
>>speaker.  Yesterday's commencement address was the best I have heard at
>>UTC in years.  In the midst of it, someone in the audience yelled
>>something in an incredibly loud voice.  The enunciation of the heckler
>>was
>>not good so I am not sure what he said.  Throughout the speech, there
>>was
>>also a constant buzz from the audience, who obviously were not paying
>>attention.
>>
>>I realize that a tractor-pull crowd is not likely to understand what
>>yesterday's speaker had to say.  But part of the trouble was that
>>it was difficult to hear what the speaker was saying.  I think that he
>>was
>>too far away from the microphone.  I suggest that someone in the
>>platform
>>party at the next graduation be designated to make  sure that the
>>microphone is properly positioned for the commencement speaker.  It
>>might
>>be a good idea to ask one of the faculty in the audience or one of the
>>marshals to signal if there is any problem.
>>
>>Mike Russell

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) 755-4334  // fax (423)755-4153

Residence: 936 Mountain Creek Road, A-3
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