Last spring, I wrote several blog posts about various Commencements at Wofford and the traditions that had grown up around this highlight of the academic year. Rather than re-write some of those entries, I'm going to refer you back to a few of them.
In one entry, I talked about the assorted traditions of walking through the gates, of the Commencement Bibles, and of the ceremony itself.
In another post, I talked about "Commencement Season" - all of the events that surround the actual graduation ceremony. In years gone by, Commencement lasted four or five days.
And in another, I shared a selection from a radio interview with President Henry Nelson Snyder where he talked about the American college commencement.
Next week, I'll talk about a few other Commencement-related items - including a retrospective on what Commencement was like in 1959, and perhaps 1859 and 1909 as well. Stay tuned!
And, if you will permit a moment of personal privilege, I will note that my classmates and I from the class of 1994 graduated from Wofford fifteen years ago today.
Phillip: At the 2009 commencement the Class of 1959 presented our soulmate, Bernie Dunlap, with a tongue-in-cheek award (apologies to Garrison Keillor) that touts not only English Majors, but symbolically the value of a liberal arts education. I also gave my classmates a composite of the Sep 1958-Jan 1959 Old Gold and Black editions that I edited, taken from the original manuscripts (sending you a copy). Our 50th Reunion was a precious, uplifting experience for us all!
Martin Luther Banks III (1937-) Class of 1959
Martin Luther Banks (1900-1953) Class of 1925
Rev. Martin Luther Banks (1869-1898) Class of 1894
Rev. Martin Luther Banks (1823-1854)*
*Not a Wofford graduate, but also a Methodist minister.
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Know all you men who turn out to be dull, uncomprehending, lacking in a sense of irony, impervious to intuitive reasoning, captive to stereotypes, unaware of subtexts, and all you technical majors unable to express yourself readily, gracefully, and sensitively, who get excited about surreal sports like football, who shall see these presents
GREETINGS: Let it be herein revealed and recorded upon this parchment, and otherwise attested to and publicly made known to any and all earthly mortals, and all others who may be graced by his august and distinguished presence that
BENJAMIN BERNARD DUNLAP, JR.
President, Wofford College
B.A., English,1959
The University of the South
Sewanee, Tennessee
Born December 3, 1937
“The Year of the Ox”
Did forever separate himself from the realm of plebian human achievement by the sometime performance of illustrious feats of titanic magnificence in the use of the ENGLISH language, with intelligence, curiosity, a sense of adventure, and an unabashed exhibition of excellent punctuation and parallel sentence structure, thereby earning the distinction of
Member – In - Perpetuity
P. O. E. M.
Professional Organization of English Majors
Wofford College Chapter
Given under our hand and seal at the City of Spartanburg
this Sixteenth day of May
in the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Nine,
“The Year of the Ox.”
Wofford College Class of 1959
50th Reunion
Posted by: Martin L Banks CDR USNR (Ret) '59 | May 30, 2009 at 02:59 PM