The African-American and LGBT communities on campus will walk to the beat of their own drums while graduating from the University with the Robing Ceremony and Lavender Graduation Ceremony, coordinated by the Office of Multicultural Affairs.
Both ceremonies are an added attempt to celebrate the milestone achievement of receiving a degree from the University.
LaKeitha Poole, coordinator of African American Student Affairs, said the robing ceremony is a way to bring an additional sense of culture to the graduation experience. The celebration will also honor the 1964 students who integrated the University 50 years ago, Poole said.
Each student participant will be presented with the traditional African adornment: a kente cloth, handmade and shipped from Ghana. Unlike the general commencement ceremony, students are allowed to choose who will present the cloth. Usually, students choose a family member or influential person in their life to take part in the ceremony, Poole said.
Roland Mitchell, associate director of the College of Human Sciences and Education, will address the graduating students and will give the “graduation charge” to send off the students into the world, Poole said.
The event also features
traditional African drumming as the pomp and circumstance for the entering graduates.
“It is a great added program to commencement to have something else to highlight the graduates and also incorporate culture,” Poole said.
Like the robing ceremony represents graduation through a cultural lens, the Lavender Graduation ceremony celebrates a diverse community, recognizing graduating LGBT students at the University.
Micah Caswell, graduate assistant in the Office of Multicultural Affairs and coordinator of the LGBTQ Project and the Safe Space Campaign, said it is important to recognize students in this way because marginalized people tend to be more likely to drop out.
Caswell said the students will be presented with this year’s pin during the ceremony. While it is geared toward LGBT graduates, the event is open to anyone who wants to partake and is open to the public, he said.
The Lavender ceremony is only in its second year of existence but has become an annual University tradition and should continue for years to come, Caswell said.
“This type of ceremony has been happening at colleges all over the country for years, so we’re not breaking new ground…we’re catching up,” Caswell said.