University Announces New Format for Spring Quarter Convocation

Beginning this year, the University of Chicago's spring quarter convocation will be conducted as a single campus-wide ceremony, rather than as four sessions held over three days, which has been the recent practice, University leaders announced Thursday.

In gathering all degree candidates together for a shared graduation, the University is returning to its earliest traditions and to the goals set out for convocations by the University's first president, William Rainey Harper. For Harper, the purpose of convocation was not only to award degrees but also to observe and honor the University as a whole by assembling on a regular basis its many different parts. Over time, however, the growing size of the University made it impractical to award degrees individually at a single ceremony in spring, something the University has always done at the end of the summer, fall, and winter quarters, and will continue to do.

The new plan calls for a University-wide convocation at which the president will verbally confer degrees to groups of candidates by degree type and academic program. Afterward, individual schools and departments will hold ceremonies at which degree candidates will receive their diplomas individually from their deans.The president will continue the longstanding practice of directly presenting diplomas to each graduate of the College.

"Convocation is a tradition born of the University's founding values and one that has been observed continuously since 1893," said President Robert J. Zimmer. "As such, the tradition should be preserved as much as possible even as it is adapted to the University's changing circumstances.A ceremony at the end of spring quarter that brings the University together as one restores an essential element of what convocation at the University of Chicago is meant to achieve."

The unified ceremony to be held this spring will take place on Saturday, June 12, 2010, at 10 a.m. and will be held outdoors (rain or shine) on the University's main quadrangle.A stage will be erected along University Avenue at the east edge of the quadrangle, with seating throughout the entire lawn. Large-screen monitors, similar to those now used at both indoor and outdoor convocations, will be placed throughout the quadrangle to facilitate viewing.The ample seating capacity of this venue will allow graduates to invite multiple guests.Traditional aspects of convocation in spring, such as the awarding of honorary degrees and of prizes in recognition of excellence in teaching, previously presented at separate sessions, will now be awarded before the entire assembly.The ceremony will begin with the traditional academic procession, and the processional path of each school and division will be publicized in advance to aid family members and friends in locating optimal seats.

Following the 10 a.m. ceremony, graduates and their families will either proceed directly to a diploma ceremony followed by lunch, or will have lunch first followed by a diploma ceremony.The timing and location of each school's and division's diploma ceremony will be announced early in the spring.Many schools and divisions also will hold events on Friday, June 11.For example, the College's Baccalaureate ceremony and its reception at the Museum of Science and Industry will continue to be held on Friday afternoon and evening, respectively.A complete schedule of events will be posted online at http://convocation.uchicago.edu, as planning for spring convocation continues this winter.The University also will hold a special ceremony on Friday, June 11, for any students who are unable to graduate on Saturday.

This change in format for spring convocations most affects graduate students in the divisions and professional school students who previously graduated on Friday, or, in the case of students in Chicago Booth, on Sunday.

Historically, many of the University's first convocations were held outside. Later ceremonies, and especially those in cold weather months, were held in area churches and halls, and ultimately in Rockefeller Memorial Chapel after that building opened in 1927.In 1929, the increase in the number of degrees awarded required that two spring ceremonies be held: one for graduate students and the other for students from the College.In 1969, a third session was added to spring convocation, and in 1977, a fourth session was added.Since 1998, spring sessions have been held outdoors in Harper Quadrangle.

With today's announcement, which comes after a year-long process of consultations with deans, faculty, students, administrators, and alumni, a detailed planning effort will commence, being led by the President's Office and involving representatives from the schools and divisions.