Invocation

By Frank Griffin, Math Instructor

Good morning everyone or dare I say great or amazing morning everyone, for this whole day will be memorable.

An invocation (from Latin) is literally to “call on or invoke the spirits” and the word shares a similar background to our ever popular Convocations, which stem from “to call together or assemble.” Today’s invocation has its origins in prayer and religious ceremony. In the early years of Mr. Cate’s Episcopalian tradition, formal ceremonies like this one started with a prayer, and for many decades at graduation, a local religious figure would be summoned on a Sunday morning to open the graduation ceremony and then quietly slip off the stage. More recently, a faculty member has performed this welcome, in part due to the fact that we are more available on Sundays.

My role today is much easier than that of the Clergy, since all I have to do is remind us to Circumspice (more Latin meaning “look around”) at both our setting and the people who are here to honor and support you, the Class of 2023. When we do, as we all know, the “spirit of this Mesa” just appears.

We all really just have one task this morning. Stay in the moment. You have looked forward way too much to this occasion, and no doubt you will look back many times as you scroll through the videos and pictures on your phones. Years from now, you might even see one of your classmates with disbelief and say, “We haven’t seen each other since graduation.” So right now, gather as many sensory observations and feelings as you can. Something magical may happen today. Don’t miss it.

Congratulations, Class of 2023.