Cornell University’s 1912 Commencement ceremonies being held outdoors on Libe Slope

Commencement in 1912—an era when ceremonies were held on Libe Slope. (Rare and Manuscript Collections)

Bygone Commencement Traditions, from ‘Orations’ to Senior Singing

Our Big Red history expert looks back at grad rituals enjoyed by classes of eras past—plus a pair of (gasp!) honorary degrees

By Corey Ryan Earle ’07

With the pomp and circumstance of Commencement, graduation season brims with tradition. But the rites to be celebrated by and for the Class of ’25 will have some notable departures from those of their distant predecessors.

Here’s a look at how a few end-of-year rituals have evolved over the years, with some early traditions fading away to make way for the new.

Orations

With few exceptions, for most of the past century and a half, the primary speaker at Cornell’s Commencement has been the University president. But at the very first ceremony in 1869, all eight graduating seniors gave Commencement orations, on topics ranging from “The Civil Sabbath Law” to “Influence of the Press” to “The Ultimate End of Civilization.”

An illustration of Corey Earle with the title Storytime with Corey

As class sizes grew (and patience dwindled), only a handful of seniors would be selected by the faculty for the honor of speaking. But student interest in the opportunity began to wane.

In 1891, the Daily Sun noted that “Columbia, Dartmouth, and Williams have dispensed with commencement orations.” Four years later, only nine orations were submitted by Cornell’s deadline. (One excuse given was that many of the best speakers were traveling with the Glee Club and crew to England for the Henley Regatta.)

The following year, Cornell omitted student orations from its ceremony—which, the Sun noted, “considerably expedited the program.” Generations of families remain grateful.

Honorary Degrees

Cornell is the only Ivy that does not bestow honorary degrees to notable individuals—but that hasn’t always been the case. From June–October 1886, the University briefly had a policy of granting degrees “in recognition of eminent services in the field of science and letters.”

In his autobiography, founding president A.D. White called the conferring of “such pretended honors” a “comical abuse” that “tends to lower respect for many American colleges and universities.”

He kept Cornell free of the practice through his presidency, which ended in 1885. And in January of that year, the faculty reaffirmed his stance by resolving that “no honorary degrees shall be conferred by the University.”

Cornell University’s second president (1885–92), Charles Kendall Adams 1885 – 1892
Charles Kendall Adams, president from 1885–92.

However, White’s successor, Charles Kendall Adams, must have missed the memo.

At the Board of Trustees meeting one day before Commencement in 1886, Adams proposed honorary doctor of laws degrees for White and David Starr Jordan, MS 1872, then president of Indiana University and future founding president of Stanford.

Likely caught off guard and not wanting to insult the suggested honorees, trustees voted in favor, and the degrees were granted. But even the diplomas themselves—written fully in Latin—broke with established practice.

(Cornell had intentionally avoided such elitism; it remains the only Ivy without a Latin motto.)

As the Daily Sun observed: “this is an entire departure from previous custom”—and alumni began circulating a petition against honorary degrees.

With the majority of alumni in opposition, and the faculty having issued a resolution supporting their petition, trustees backtracked at their next full meeting. The previous resolution was “rescinded, without prejudice to the action already taken under it.”

Although the debate has occasionally been revisited—most recently with a Faculty Senate vote in 2008—White and Jordan remain the only recipients of an honorary Cornell degree.

Caps and Gowns—Weeks Before Commencement!

Once upon a time, academic regalia wasn’t just for graduation day.

An 1897 Daily Sun notice decreed that “Seniors should make their first appearance in caps and gowns on the last Sunday in April. It is expected that the gowns will be worn on the remaining Sundays of the term by the entire class, upon the other days as may suit the convenience of the wearer.”

An 1897 Daily Sun notice decreed that “Seniors should make their first appearance in caps and gowns on the last Sunday in April.”

But the tradition became an annual topic of debate, with a Class of 1905 senior noting that caps and gowns were “a nuisance to wear, and that the wearers are made the subject of ridicule.”

By the 1920s, academic regalia was only being worn at a handful of Senior Week events leading up to Commencement.

Graduates in caps and gowns process past Goldwin Smith Hall in 1917
Graduates process past Goldwin Smith in 1917.

Alumni of a certain era may recall that the cap and gown came into question in 1970, when some students advocated forgoing them to raise awareness of “war, racism, and repression.”

The attire officially became optional—although most seniors still opt to wear it today. In 1980, some students boycotted the cap and gown due to anti-union activities by the manufacturer, which closed later that year.

Senior Singing

For several decades in the University’s early days, singing was an essential part of Commencement Week. The tradition began in 1897, although the Daily Sun described it as already “in vogue at all the large colleges.”

The custom was simple: seniors would gather on campus once or twice weekly in the month before graduation to sing college songs and inculcate class spirit.

The location shifted over the years, with seniors initially meeting outside McGraw Hall, then moving to the Law School’s (now-demolished) Boardman Hall, and eventually to the broad portico and steps of Goldwin Smith after its opening in 1906.

At its peak, the event could attract hundreds of singers and spectators. Class songbooks were distributed, and the concert often featured solos or small ensembles, and occasional collaborations with the Chimes.

Ad for "Senior Singing" in a 1935 issue of the Cornell Daily Sun
A Daily Sun ad from 1935.

As with many traditions of the era, participation was initially limited to men; women were finally included in 1939. (Opponents of the change attempted to hinder progress by making prank calls announcing that the singing was canceled.)

By the 1940s, participation and interest had dwindled, and World War II further disrupted it. The weekly tradition shrank to a single “Senior Sing” a couple days before Commencement, amidst the Reunion festivities that then preceded graduation.

It was titled “Alumni-Senior Singing” in the 1950s, but the “senior” component may have ended when Reunion detached from Commencement in 1963.

However, the tradition may be the progenitor of the informal post-Cornelliana Night a cappella singing in the Goldwin Smith atrium that Reunion attendees have enjoyed in recent decades.

Hats off to the Class of ’25! You, too, are part of Cornell history.

An expert on Big Red lore, Corey Ryan Earle ’07 teaches “The First American University,” a wildly popular spring semester course on Cornell history.

Top: Commencement in 1912—an era when ceremonies were held on Libe Slope. (Rare and Manuscript Collections)

Published May 8, 2025

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