GRADUATES ATTENDING GRADUATE SCHOOL

Class of 2020

Marcel Lindner, Grenoble Ecole de Management, Master of International Business

Kyra Platzek, Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa, Master of Science with concentration in Physician Assistant Students

Tiffany Adkins, Waldorf University, Master of Arts: Organizational Leadership with concentration in Criminal Justice

Lorraine Fleetwood, Liberty University, Master of Arts in Human Services Counseling

Elisabeth Tramm, Briar Cliff University, Master of Arts in Management focusing in Sport Management

Joe Wilkes, Columbia Southern University, Master of Science in Occupational Health & Safety

Richelle Jupina, The Ohio State University, Master of Science in Nursing: Midwifery

Class of 2021

Marco Bonne, Waldorf University, Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership with concentration in Sport Management

Helen Allison Brockman, Waldorf University, Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership with concentration in Public Administration

Diana Humble, The University of South Dakota, Master of Arts in Communication

Ian Kramer, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Master’s in Athletic Training

Colby Kendell, Waldorf University, Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership with concentration in Emergency Management Leadership

Ireland Lambrecht, Minnesota State University-Mankato, Master’s in Athletic Training

Jason Murray, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Master’s in Sports Management

Kaitlyn Rockwell, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Master’s in Mental Health Counseling

Brady Thompson, Northwestern Health Sciences University, Doctorate in Chiropractic

Justin Wells, Northcentral University, Doctor of Education

Cynthia Yocubik, Colorado State University Global Campus, Master’s in Organizational Leadership

Madelynn Krutsinger, University of Missouri, Master’s in Social Work

Henrique Aragon Lucas, Pensacola Christian College, Master’s in Business Administration

Bridget Carr, Amridge University, Doctor of Education in Higher Education Administration.

Graduation Honors

Special honors are awarded to Bachelor level students at the time of graduation in recognition of high scholarship. These are designated by the terms cum laude (with distinction), magna cum laude (with high distinction), and summa cum laude (with highest distinction).

Summa Cum Laude (With Highest Distinction): 3.90 – 4.00 GPA, gold cords

Magna Cum Laude (With High Distinction): 3.70 – 3.89 GPA, silver cords

Cum Laude (With Distinction): 3.50 – 3.69 GPA, purple cord

Graduates wearing gold medallions with green and blue ribbon were selected into membership to Alpha Chi, the national scholastic honors society. Alpha Chi admits to membership students from all academic disciplines. Only students in the top ten percent of the junior and senior classes may be invited to join. As an honors society, Alpha Chi recognizes previous accomplishments and provides opportunity for continued growth and service. Students wearing gold honors medallions with gold ribbon are Waldorf Scholars, and graduates of the Waldorf Honors College. These scholars are students who were admitted to and successfully completed the program of the Honors College with a grade point average of at least 3.5.

Student Senate awards a white with purple lettering and script stole to student senators. The stole represents their dedication to the University for maintaining a GPA of 2.5 or higher and staying actively involved in Student Senate for at least two years. Student Senate plays a major role helping clubs and other organizations fund their activities.

Baccalaureate And Commencement

To signal the achievements of their students, American institutions of higher learning conduct formal ceremonies to award the appropriate degrees earned at the conclusion of prescribed study. The action of taking the degree, as well as the designation of the day itself, is Commencement.

Various explanations of the term Commencement are possible. The most likely is that centuries ago the bachelor, originally an apprentice, began his apprenticeship upon that day; and with the degree of M.A. and Ph.D., the masters and doctors commenced their work upon the day their degrees were conferred. So today, having finished their preliminary education, students set out to continue preparation for their vocation in life.

University’s such as Waldorf precede Commencement ceremonies with a worship service, Baccalaureate, also from the traditions originating in the early history of collegiate education and involving a formal academic procession. Since such education was originally conducted and/or sponsored by the Church, a sermon of commitment and challenge called the Baccalaureate is traditionally delivered to the graduates.

The Academic Procession

The academic processional that officially preludes the graduation ceremonies on college and university campuses is an old and colorful custom linking 21st century education to its origins in the Middle Ages.

Processions at Waldorf University are always led by the processional cross, symbolizing the centrality of the Christian faith to the mission of the University.

The processional cross is followed by Waldorf’s ceremonial mace, which symbolizes the authority and responsibility of the University. The mace is carried by Professor Julienne Friday.

Doctors Missy Reynolds and Paul Bartelt, professors Tiffany Olson and John Robinson serve as the Faculty Marshals. They direct the procession and guide members of the faculty, administration and students to their seats.

Regalia

The academic regalia worn at commencement is of medieval origin. The scholars of Bologna, Salamanca, Paris, Oxford, Cambridge, Louvain and Heidelberg dressed to distinguish themselves from the merchants and other townsmen. Since the 11th century, when the rise of the universities began, “learned clerks” robed themselves in gowns, caps and hoods, thus marking a difference between “town and gown.”

By this apparel they were recognized as belonging to the teaching guild: the Guild of the Master of Arts. In this organization the bachelor was the apprentice of the master. This relationship was a forerunner of today’s academic structure, which often includes graduate and/or teaching assistants (usually studying for advanced degrees).

In our time customs vary as to the wearing of the academic gowns. In the older English universities the masters or dons continue to wear them while engaged in instructional duties; students are required to wear gowns while attending lectures or during tutorials. In many other European universities, academic regalia is worn only on certain stipulated occasions, as in America today.

Generally in Europe, the faculty member wears the type of garment customary in the university where the professor is lecturing. In the United States our tradition differs; our professors continue to wear the gown and hood of the university from which they received their highest degree.

The gown, in origin, may have been simply a type of overcoat to protect the teacher from the cold in unheated buildings; the cut or style seemingly derived from ecclesiastical attire. It has usually been black. The gowns of bachelors and masters were usually without trimmings, whereas those of doctors are faced down the front with velvet and adorned with three velvet bars on the bell-shaped sleeves. The master’s gown has pointed sleeves which reach nearly to the knees, while the bachelor’s gown has plain, straight sleeves.

The cap or “mortarboard” may have come from the squarish cap worn by the masons of the Middle Ages, or perhaps was suggested by the shape of the scholar’s books. Attached to a button atop the mortarboard is a tassel; bachelor’s and master’s tassels are black. Gold tassels are worn only by holders of doctoral degrees and by heads of institutions. The tassel is worn on the left side by those who have received a degree.

The hood, a triangular fold of cloth worn over the back of the gown, is faced with colors which denote the field of study represented by the wearer’s degree; the colors of the lining are those of the college or university by which the degree was granted. The length of the hood is correspondingly longer with each higher degree.

The wide velvet borders extending down the front of the doctoral gown, the velvet bars on the sleeves, and the borders of most hoods, are colored according to the scholarly field of the wearer. For all academic purposes, the colors associated with the different disciplines are as follows:

White – Arts, English, History, Humanities, Letters, Literature

Sage Green – Physical Education

Copper – Economics

Gold – Anthropology, Biochemistry, Physics, Science

Orange – Civil Engineering, Engineering

Scarlet – Divinity, Theology

Brown – Dramatic Arts, Fine Arts

Olive – Pharmacy

Lemon – Library Science

Pink – Music

Lt Blue – Education, Counseling, Guidence

Purple – Jurisprudence, Law

Dk Blue – Philosophy

Dk Green – Medicine

Drab – Accountancy, Business

Administration, Commerce

Maize – Agriculture, Horticulture

Blue-Violet – Architecture, City

Planning, Urban Planning

Rhodes Blue – Auditory

Grey – Chiropractic, Veterinary Science

Crimson – Communication, Journalism

Lilac – Dentistry

Peacock Blue – Foreign Service, Public Administration

Russet – Forestry

Maroon – Home Economics

Apricot – Nursing

Silver – Oratory, Speech

Seafoam – Optometry

Teal – Physical Therapy

Salmon – Public Health

Citron – Social Work

The Waldorf Seal

Waldorf’s seal bears the symbol of the lamp and the book. The motto of the University is “Light and Truth.” As an educational institution, Waldorf is dedicated to the truth in all branches of human knowledge and the sharing of this truth through its work of teaching. As a University of the Christian church, Waldorf is founded upon and guided by the truth of God’s Word and is committed to the task of letting that truth light up the lives of all who come within its influence.

The Processional Mace

Once a familiar weapon in medieval combat, the mace evolved over time into a symbol of authority and became associated with the pride of a nation and its origins. Later, the mace was adopted by universities as a symbol of the power of the academic pursuit of wisdom and truth. It is carried in academic processions to bring authority to ceremonial occasions and to symbolize the unity and aspirations of the collegiate community.

Waldorf’s processional mace was designed and presented to the University by Dr. James Roy in 1994. Dr. Roy is a prominent artist and former faculty member of Waldorf University, who later became chair of the Department of Art at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota.

Carried vertically, the mace stands four feet high and is constructed of walnut and oak wood. The triangular head of the mace symbolizes the triune God, and a sterling silver medallion graces each of the three sides of the mace head. One medallion is a stylized version of the University’s Seal, which includes the “lamp of learning,” the motto “Lux et Veritas” (Light and Truth), the date of founding (1903), and two crosses. Another places the Greek letters chi and ro, which are the first two letters in the Greek word for Christ, over a stylized section of Salveson Hall, the University’s original building. The third medallion is the seal of Martin Luther, which symbolizes the University’s commitment to the Lutheran understanding of the Christian faith. Several semiprecious gems stones adorn and decorate each of the medallions.

The Processional mace is carried in all formal academic processions of the University. The mace is carried by the University Marshal, and it follows the cross, which leads the procession.

The Presidential Medallion

The tradition of a symbol of office is rooted in the colorful life of towns in the Middle Ages. The symbol of communal harmony was the mayor, who at his investiture was given a chain with a medallion that represented all the guilds working together for the welfare of the town. In the medieval university, the chief official, or rector magnificus, held authority similar to that of the mayor in civil society. Thus, he, too, was honored with a medallion, but his consisted of insignia of all the colleges of the university.

Waldorf University’s presidential medallion was created by artist James Roy in 1968. Dr. Roy had been a professor of art at Waldorf, and was at the time professor of art and chair of the Art Department of St. Cloud State University in Minnesota.

The medallion is made of sterling silver and is decorated with several garnets and pearls. The medallion’s face includes the lamp of learning set on an opened Bible, both symbols form the University’s Seal. The University’s name and its motto, Lux et Veritas (Light of Truth), surround the circular center of the medallion.

Rather than the more traditional chain, Roy designed a purple velvet shawl to hold the medallion. The fabric and color represent the historic commitments of the University to the Christian faith.

The presidential medallion is the official symbol of the office of the president of Waldorf University and is donned by the president when academic apparel is worn at formal academic celebrations.