The Ceremonies
There is no limit to the number of family and friends who may attend the Baccalaureate and Commencement ceremonies because they are either held outdoors in front of Samuel Mather Hall or indoors on the Toan Track of the Kenyon Athletic Center (our rain site). No tickets are needed to attend either ceremony.
Attendance at the Phi Beta Kappa ceremony on Friday morning is by invitation.
Please be aware that reservations must be made prior to your arrival for housing and all meals during Commencement Weekend, including the Commencement Luncheon.
Baccalaureate
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Baccalaureate Service
1:30 p.m.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Samuel Mather Lawn (Rainsite: Kenyon Athletic Center)
Baccalaureate is historically a worship service at which a sermon is preached for the graduating class. During much of its history as an Episcopal college, Kenyon held the Baccalaureate service in the chapel according to the forms set forth in the Book of Common Prayer. In recent years, the College's custom has been to expand this venerable ceremony in ways that highlight Kenyon's academic mission and make the occasion accessible to the broader College community.
To accommodate the growing number of graduates and family members over the years, the ceremony has been moved to an outdoor setting. Academic and spiritual texts are chosen and read by a few select seniors to represent an aspect of their particular fields of study or to speak on behalf of communities of faith at Kenyon. In place of a sermon, an address is given by a representative of the College who has been selected by a vote of the graduating class. The invocation and benediction, which call to mind the historic purpose of Baccalaureate, are carefully framed by the participating religious leaders to reflect Kenyon's commitment to being an open and inclusive community.
Commencement
184th Commencement Ceremony
10:30 a.m.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Samuel Mather Lawn (Rainsite: Kenyon Athletic Center)
Commencement is the formal academic ceremony at which graduates' degrees are officially conferred by their institution. It is a ceremony that includes practices that are hundreds of years old, as well as traditions that are specific to Kenyon College.
During the ceremony, retiring faculty members and other dignitaries will receive honorary degrees, and a speaker chosen with the help of the senior class will deliver an address.
Seniors waiting to receive their diplomas are hooded by college marshals prior to walking across the stage. Kenyon is one of relatively few undergraduate institutions to retain this particular tradition. (Most colleges and universities only hood graduates at the masters or doctoral level.) Each graduating senior's name is read in English, after which his or her degree and honors are announced, in Latin, by the faculty secretary.
The Commencement Picnic on Ransom Lawn will immediately follow the close of the graduation ceremony. A perennial favorite of graduating seniors, the picnic is a final opportunity to celebrate with friends and family before leaving the campus.
Tickets for the Commencement Picnic must be purchased in advance! The graduates' meals are covered by the college and do not need to be included in your reservations.
Phi Beta Kappa
Graduating Seniors will be inducted into Phi Beta Kappa on Friday, May 17, at 10:30 a.m. in Rosse Auditorium. The Phi Beta Kappa committee cannot make their final determination until after Senior grades have been submitted to the Registrar. While important, grades are only one of several criteria considered by the committee. Qualifying students will be invited to the induction during Senior Week.
Historical Notes on Phi Beta Kappa
Phi Beta Kappa, the leading national honor society for undergraduates, was founded on December 5, 1776, by five students at the College of William and Mary. In 1856, the Kenyon chapter, known as Beta of Ohio, was formed by professors John Andrews, Thomas Mather Smith, Hamilton Smith, and Francis Wharton in the living room of Wharton's home, the building we now know as Sunset Cottage.
Phi Beta Kappa is an active society, supporting many scholarly activities beyond honoring worthy students. To be eligible for election to Phi Beta Kappa, students must have pursued a broad program of study in the liberal arts and sciences and fulfilled other academic criteria as required by the electing chapter. Typically, no more than 10 percent of the candidates for degrees in liberal arts and sciences are elected.