Graduation

ASSOCIATE DEAN Damon Sims looks through the commencement program while students wait to go through graduation ceremonies. Although not all graduating seniors went through ceremonies, 7,796 students graduated from the Bloomington campus.

AFTER graduating seniors receive their diplomas, they are greeted by an array of professional photographers waiting to shoot them as they pass between the flags.

DIPLOMATIC

DEPARTURE

By Amy Wimmer

REARY, OVERCAST SKIES D hovered over Bloomington. Red and white heliumfilled balloons were tied to wooden bridges around campus to bring a festive look to graduation, but weekend thunderstorms left the balloons appearing windblown and pathetic.

Still, the rain that split IU's commencement into two ceremonies failed to dampen the graduates' enthusiasm.

The University planned to hold commencement exercises at Memorial Stadium, but the dismal weather brought the graduates, accompanied by friends and family members, into the roofed Assembly Hall. Space constraints at the basketball stadium forced the Class of 1994 to split into two ceremonies, one at 10 a.m., and a second at 3 p.m.

At first glance, May 7 didn't appear to have the makings for a perfect Bloomington graduation. But for the 7,796 students who received their degrees, the weather was insignificant.

The weather wasn't the only insignificant part of commencement exercises, former University of Chicago President Hanna Holborn Gray told the Class of 1994.

Ironically, Holborn Gray, the commencement speaker, told graduates that the importance of commencement was often inflated.

She told her audience that a commencement speaker's "function is to prolong the ceremony, and in doing so, to make it appear that something had really happened here today."

While some refer to a graduation as a step into the "real world," Holborn Gray asked the class to consider their tenure at IU to be part of the "real world" as well. "I hope you will always think of it not as an escape from the world, but as a real world, too," Holborn Gray said. "Without the larger world and its possibilities [it] would be impoverished; the quality of life and its civilizing values and social purposes impaired."

The University's decision to invite Holborn Gray to speak at commencement brought criticism from some IU graduates who said Holborn Gray was known only within academic circles.

But Holborn Gray, who admitted to her audience that her lone goal was to lengthen the time it took the Class of 1994 to graduate, brought an unexpectedly pleased response from graduates. "I think she did a really good job and related it to everyone, said senior Myrna continued

Rainy weather forced graduates and their families inside for ceremonies

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Hernandez, who graduated from the School of Education. "I haven't been to another commencement, but I always hear how the speakers are boring and talk about things students don't really care about."

Commencement was also marked by the departure of IU President Thomas Ehrlich, who "graduated" from IU to return to teaching. "In your years here, I hope you have found much to give you pleasure as well as wisdom — good friends, new ideas, new ways to learn and perhaps a better understanding of yourself," he told the graduates. Ehrlich and his wife, Ellen Ehrlich, received honorary degrees for their service to the IU community at the ceremony.

Commencement was highlighted by remarks from IU-Bloomington Chancellor and University Vice President Kenneth Gros Louis. He compared the graduates' departure to other partings he has experienced, including the death of his wife, Dee

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rye * *Si PROUD parents photograph graduates as they file out onto the floor of Assembly Hall. The rain caused ceremonies to be moved from Memorial Stadium to Assembly Hall.

Gros Louis, last summer. "Our lives, it seems, are made up of departures, of separating, of leaving places and people, only to encounter new situations, new faces, a little bit of us left behind, much moving along with us," Gros Louis said.

Robb Hill

Gros Louis related these departures to part of the Bloomington experience students would miss. "Today you say goodbye to many of your friends, to residence hall food and midnight pizzas; goodbye to studying tables, to a national coach of the year, Nick's and Kilroy's, to faculty and staff, to a campus," Gros Louis said. "In a couple of months, we say goodbye to Tom and Ellen Ehrlich."

Gros Louis called the commencement ceremony a continued

Robb Hill

GRADUATES walk down the stairs to the main floor of Assembly Hall where they will go through commencement ceremonies, May 7. After the ceremony was completed, some graduates' families photographed them at various scenic campus spots.

SEN IOR Tara Colby gasses up at the Village Pantry on the corner of Indiana Avenue and 12th Street before going to a graduation party. During the weekend, local bars were packed as many graduates tried to say goodbye to friends with whom they had spent four, or in some cases five or more, years.

DEPARTURE

"marker of that experience" with the University. "Meaningful institutions in our lives depend on such indicators, on connections, on events we celebrate without always knowing it each year," he said.

Gros Louis described commencement as capturing "the completion of yet another panel in the elaborate tapestry that makes up our lives."

Gros Louis said he and a group of students planted a tree May 6 north of the Bryan House to mark the class' graduation.

After the ceremony, some students and their families spent the afternoon visiting familiar campus sites and taking graduation photos.

Showalter Fountain was, of course, a popular spot. "My grandmother likes having pictures taken in front of fountains, and it's one of the most beautiful spots on campus," said senior Allen Dennis, Jr.

Robb Hill

JRNINC.7 so his family can take a picture of the recent graduate, senior Kevin Schroeder poses outside Assembly Hall's north side. Although crews had been washing the stands and setting up chairs at Memorial Stadium for graduation ceremonies, rain forced the ceremony to take place inside at Assembly Hall.