What Was Commencement Week?

Emerson College was founded as a school of oratory, with a curriculum designed to teach students how to express themselves through speech and movement. The goal was to give them the tools to excel in dramatic, interpersonal, and public activities. By the end of their academic careers, students were eager to celebrate and demonstrate their newly acquired skills. As a result, by 1908 a Commencement Committee was created to develop a Commencement Week celebration.

This six-day-long celebration began on a Sunday in early May with a baccalaureate sermon at a local church to congratulate and say farewell to the graduates. The following days were filled with various activities that displayed the achievements of the senior class. The majority of the events focused on dramatic and comedic performances, including a stage play, several pantomimes, a debate, and recitations of important works. Since the school also focused on physical expression, there were gymnastic exhibitions and demonstrations of physical culture exercises from Charles Wesley Emerson’s textbooks.  

Although the focus was mainly on the graduating class, Commencement Week also provided social and performance opportunities for both post-graduate students and alumni. Post-graduates were students who sought additional qualifications after graduating from Emerson. Like their undergraduate counterparts, they performed a stage play as well as multiple recitations during Commencement Week. They also sometimes participated in the physical culture exercises. Alumni were welcomed back to the College with the Annual Alumni Association Meeting and a formal banquet.

Toward the end of the week, Class Day occurred, during which the salutatorian would give a speech, and historians, poets, and orators would give talks and performances. All Emerson community members, including alumni, were invited to these events. On the last day of Commencement Week, the formal graduation ceremony took place, composed of the conferral of degrees and an address from a well-known figure. Commencement speakers included author and educator Edward Howard Griggs, poet and novelist Hamlin Garland, and Massachusetts Commissioner of Education Payson Smith.  

Throughout the first few decades of the 20th century, this schedule of events remained largely unchanged, with some additions during individual years that included a costume parade, senior promenade, and alumni harbor cruise. As the century wore on and the College’s curriculum diversified, commencement events were shortened to a stage play, sermon, senior recital, and graduation ceremony. Individual schools and student groups began developing their own commencement activities—many of which continue today—with the graduation ceremony bringing everyone together.

Congratulations to this year’s graduates; we are proud of your accomplishments and look forward to your future successes!

Jenn Williams (Archives and Special Collections)