Thoughts on your child's graduation ceremony?

[TooHot2022]

Recently had DS's graduation ceremony at a Russell Group uni.
It was well-organised by the uni in a nice venue (not Southampton!!), the day ran smoothly, we took lovely photos and met some of his friends. All good.

However, DH & I later both remarked on a number of things we observed:

• lots of students looked like they'd made no effort to look even slightly smart/tidy.
• family/audience response was quite rowdy for some students - more like a football match
• A handful of students were disrespectful - almost ignoring the Chancellor then using their walk across stage to 'perform' in some way

We got the distinct impression that for many of them it was some sort of 'game' which they didn't value.

By way of contrast, all the international students were impeccably dressed, great interaction/ social skills with staff etc and seemed to be really valuing and enjoying the occasion.

I don't know, it just kind of made me feel a bit sad. Like British students don't really value our academic institutions, and yet international students can't get enough of them?!

Nope @Ruthietuthie it was St Andrews and there was a choir and a commencement speech and clapping and a procession with a piper and ceremonial Mace's and lots of outfits with gold braid etc. Was a good mixture of serious and joyful.

@Wbeezer , that sounds lovely, with the piper. What a special day.
At the Cambridge graduation there wasn't word said in English, it was all in Latin. You went in, held the finger of Praelector, who waves his or her hat and says something in Latin about you being a person of suitable character, then you knelt before the Vice-Chancellor who made the sign of the cross on your head and shoulders. After that you were up, gave a bow, and were out the door. They do now have an alternative version for those who don't want the sign of the cross, but it is in Latin too. The most lovely part was parading through the streets of Cambridge to get to the Senate House for the ceremony and then getting out the door, to be greeted by the fellows of your college. And then back to college for a fantastic garden party.

Attire in general has got less formal so extends to graduation ceremonies too

Life is one big popularity contest and that also extends to graduation ceremonies too

Two Russell group graduations and they were encouraged by the Chancellor\ Dean to do that. Very respectful, acknowledging the academics on stage but yes, some did make more of their walk across stage than others, why no t, they had every right to celebrate their success.

I see this has made it to the Daily Mirror (popped up on my FB)

In my day (less than 15 years ago) we were given advice as to what to wear under our gowns and how best to secure them to our clothes.
I can't believe any such advice was given to those graduating from the university in my local city recently - I have no idea how many of the women managed to find something to secure their gowns to, or indeed even walk in the clothes and shoes they had chosen to wear.
I definitely must be getting old because to me what they had chosen to wear seemed totally inappropriate for a graduation ceremony and more suited to a night on the town

We have a list of dos and don'ts - including no jeans or trainers but whooping and celebration are encouraged - we do have the uni gospel choir performing to set the tone.
Dreading mine next week at present for the whole academic reasons (and the lass I would have sat next to in alphabetical order and really got on with isn't going cos she had to drop back a year).

Like British students don't really value our academic institutions, and yet international students can't get enough of them?!

They've probably learnt this from their parents' attitudes.

We have one of the world's best education systems here in the UK, and many of our universities are in the top 100 in the world (out of hundreds of thousands).

But the great British public treats university education with thinly veiled (sometimes not veiled at all) contempt. Students are encouraged to demand results as if they were customers, and it sometimes seems to me that a part of this comes from their families, as well as press coverage & government policy.

The government has made them into customers, with the fees and the expectation that parents top up loans. Some courses have less than 10 hours contact time per week but the cost is the same as for courses that have nearly ft hours. You can see why students and parents might be more demanding, when there's a big financial sacrifice involved in putting kids through university.
During Covid I had the 'pleasure' of seeing what my dc was doing - it was clear that some tutors had put in so much hard work to make remote learning as good as it could be under the circumstances and others, not so much!

I've been to five high school graduations in the US and three university graduations so far. Two private universities and one state.

The whooping shocked me at first, but now I'm more of a shrugger. None of it was offensive.

One thing I noticed about the university graduates was the decent clothing on the vast majority, under their gowns. The stylish heels on the women were especially noticeable - when your outfit is covered by your gown the only element on show is your footwear after all. The audiences came in a variety of weather appropriate smart casual outfits (all ceremonies outdoors).

A lot of the students were going on to restaurants for a nice meal with family others were hitting the cocktail bars, and partying. Hence the glamorous look. Watching the fashion and marketing department there were some stunning looks under the gowns