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Graduation Week & Commencement Events
Commencement - Symbols of Authority
Driving Directions/Area Hotels
Activity |
Date |
University Awards Day |
Thursday, April 17, 2008 |
Senior Service Day |
Sunday, May 4, 2008 |
Commencement Rehearsal |
Friday, May 9, 2008 |
Baccalaureate Ceremony |
Friday, May 9, 2008 |
Commencement Ceremony |
Saturday, May 10, 2008 |
University Awards Day - Thursday, April 17, 2008
- Location - Progress Energy Building
- Time - Graduates are required to arrive at 9:30 a.m. The program will begin at 11:00 a.m.
Senior Service - Sunday, May 4, 2008
- Location - Thomas J. Boyd Chapel
- Time - 11:00 a.m.
Commencement Rehearsal - Friday, May 9, 2008 (Mandatory if participating in Commencement Ceremony)
- Attendance is required. Complete Response Card.
- Bring your academic hood and cap.
- Location - J.S. Dorton Arena (1026 Blue Ridge Rd, Raleigh)
- Time - Graduates are required to arrive at the arena by 9:30 a.m. Rehearsal begins at 10:00 a.m.
Baccalaureate Ceremony - Friday, May 9, 2008
- Dress in full academic regalia.
- Location - Thomas J. Boyd Chapel
- Time - Graduates are required to arrive at 5:15 p.m. (Line-up will be at the bell tower). The ceremony will begin at 6:00 p.m.
Commencement Ceremony - Saturday, May 10, 2008
- If attending and participating - dress in academic regalia
- Location - J.S. Dorton Arena (1026 Blue Ridge Rd, Raleigh)
- Time - Graduates are to arrive at 8:30 a.m. at the Exposition Center. The ceremony will begin at 11:00 a.m.
Commecement Participation Policy
Shaw University awards the Associate of Arts degree, the Bachelor of Arts degree, the Bachelor of Science degree, the Master of Science in Curriculum and Instruction, the Master of Divinity degree, and the Master of Arts in Religious Education.
Candidates for the Associate of Arts degree must satisfactorily complete a minimum of 60 academic credits, which must include all required courses for the University Core, Department Core and the student's major area(s). Also, the candidate must successfully complete competency examiniations in English and Mathematics. A minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.00 (or "C") must be met by each candidate for the associate degree(s).
Candidates for Bachelor's degree must satisfactorily complete a minimum of 120 academic credits, which must include all required courses of the University Core, Department Core and the student's major area(s). Also, candidates for the bachelor's degree must successfully complete competency examinations in English and Mathematics. A minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.00 (or "C") must be met by each candidate for the baccalaureate degree(s).
The student should file the required Application for Graduation with his/her academic advisor(s) during the semester prior to the semester of graduation. Deadlines are published in the Academic Calendar.
Each candidate is required to satisfactorily complete the final 30 semester hours, in residence at Shaw University, as an officially enrolled matriculate for the associate of arts or baccalaureate degree(s). Also they must successfully complete all required examinations, projects, and assignments.
Students in the graduate program must successfully complete the following academic credit hours to qualify for graduation as follows:
Commencement RehearsalAll graduates who plan to march MUST participate in the rehearsal. Attendance at this rehearsal is mandatory. If you are not present you will not be able to participate in the Commencement Exercise.
Commencement AttireAll students are to dress as indicated by University standards. Students are asked to wear professional business or professional "Sunday dress" under their academic regalia. Females are required to wear dresses or pant suits. Males are required to wear shirts and ties or business suits. All participants are required to wear black shoes.
Honor Cords and Academic Medallions from Awards Days can be worn with your academic attire. Only stoles from The Shaw Man and Woman Society and Chartered Honor and Professional Greek Letter Organizations (Approved Orgnizations are: Alpha Chi, Alpha Epsilon Rho, Alpha Kappa Mu, Beta Kappa Chi, and Phi Beta Lamda) can be worn.
Commencement Etiquette
- Please arrange to be on time for all graduation events. Students who arrie after the commencement procession has begun WILL NOT be allowed to march.
- All graduates are expected to attend the entire ceremony, and to participate in both the processional and recessional.
- Commencement is both a joyful occasion and a solemn event. Please express your excitement in ways that will not prevent others from hearing the speaker and enjoying the ceremony.
- Alcohol and other illegal substances are not permitted in J.S. Dorton Arena during Commencement. Security will be present to confiscate alcohol/illegal substances and prohibit those from marching that may already be under the influence.
- Mobile phones should be turned to silent mode to ensure that all guests can hear and enjoy the commencement activies.
- Commencement begins with the academic procession. The audience is asked to rise as the procession enters the Arena and remain standing until the platform party has taken its place, the Invocatio nhas been given and the Hymn has been sung.
- Commencement closes with the recessional. After the singing of the Alma Mater and the benediction the audience is asked to take their seats and remain seated for the retrieval of colors and the recessional of the platform party, faculty, and students.
Symbols Of Authority
Office Of The PresidentThe Ceremonial Academic Mace
The ceremonial Academic Mace appeared in European universities during the fourteenth century, and represented the amalgamation of two much older staff-like devices of similar length and shape. These were the regal scepter and the medieval battle mace. Kings throughout history have carried scepters in insignia of the lawful authority of just rulers. Medieval princes first used the battle mace as an effective hand weapon in combat.
In the fourteenth century, the royal scepter and the battle mace were combined to produce the ceremonial academic mace. It was carried before royalty, mayors of cities and chief officers of the medieval universities.
Today, the mace is used on ceremonial occasions in the life of the university. In commencement exercises, the mace specifically indicates the authority of the university president to award degrees. It is most often carried by the Chief Marshal who immediately precedes the presidential party in the ceremonial procession.
The Shaw University Mace consists of a twenty-four inch base of hard cherry and applied dark finish. The large flat ends of the upper mace have been fitted with banks of fine sterling silver. Over this is an open work design with several solid areas, which are decorated with garnets, long regarded as the stone of compassion and peace of mind. This stone also reflects one of the University's colors. The mace design is inspired, in part, by the burning torch depicted in the University's crest.
Dr. Clarence G. Newsome is the second Shaw University chief administrator to be handed the University Mace. Designed and executed in 1988 by the noted Shaw University artist and Associate Professor Minnie McMillan.
The President's Medallion
The Presidential medallion is the official symbol of the Office of the President of Shaw University, to be worn by the President on all formal academic occasions. The four-inch medallion for Dr. Clarence G. Newsome, the thirteenth President of Shaw University, is a double-faced design with imagery in bas-relief.
Designed by Mrs. Minnie McMillan in collaboration with Dr. newsome, the medallion is cast in sterling silver with 14 karat gold plating and bears the University's crest sculptured on the front. The symbols in the crest include a dove, designed to represent the University's commitment to the Judaeo-Christian faith; the olive branch, representing the pursuit of excellence; a torch denoting devotion to truth; human figures - students entering and leaving; and "stained glass pattern" in the background, symbolizing the interrelation of religion and learning. Suspended on a chain of pure silver and fastened with silver links, the medallion is personalized with the President's name, which appears in a half circle below the University's founding, and on the left, the year of the inauguration. At three points on the Shaw University Shield, there is a garnet stone.
There are many ancient traditions and legends about garnets. Some Hebrew writers include it as one of the twelve gems in Aaron's breastplate. Legend also claims that Noah hung a large garnet in the ark for illumination. Further, garnet was said to give its wearer guidance in the night allowing him to see what others could not. Christian tradition has long considered the blood-red garnet symbolic of Christ's sacrifice.
The reverse side of the medallion has great significance as well. It is sculpted with doves in flight, three crosses, and an open tomb signifying the resurrection, and in accordance with Christian belief, validation of jesus as the Messiah or Christ. The design is intended to capture the essence of the religious faith commitment reflected in the University's motto, Pro Christo et Humanitate.
The medallion chain includes several rectangular plates, which bear the names of organizations historically connected or associated with Shaw University and its graduates. The plates closet to the medallion honor the American Baptist Churches, USA, the General Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, the Woman's Baptist Home and Foreign Missionary Convention, and the North Carolina Teachers' Association (the black teachers' association prior to desegregation).
Shaw University is often referred to as "The Mother of Negro higher Education in North Carolina." Thereby, the remaining plates honor institutions linked to Shaw University in order of their founding: Fayetteville State University (1867); Livingstone College (1879); North Carolina A&T State University (1890); Elizabeth City State University (1891); and North Carolina Central University (1910).
Academic Attire
The caps and gowns worn by those in the procession are ancient origin and have been the traditional costume of the scholar since the Medieval Period. Today's modern academic costume in the United States is based upon an intercollegiate code established in 1895. The costume code regulated the cut, style and materials of gowns as well as the specification of different colors for different disciplines. These early agreements have been revised periodically to cover standardization of the cap, the gown, and the hood.
The distinctions set up by the Intercollegiate Code are simple. Each degree has its own distinctive gown and hood. The gown, commonly black, differs in sleeves and trimming according to level of degree. The bachelor's gown is relatively simple in design. It is full cut, falling in a straight line from an elaborate yoke with long pointed sleeves as its distinction. The master's gown is similar to the bachelor's except for its peculiar arrangement of the oblong sleeves, which terminate in square ends at the wearer's knees. The wearer's arms emerge through slits in the sleeves made at the elbows. The doctoral gown, full and flowing, is distinguished by velvet panels down the front and around the neck and by three bars of velvet on the voluminous bell-shaped sleeves. The velvet is usually black, or it may be a color designating the field of study, for example, dark blue for philosophy.
The academic cap was a later development. It was conferred as a symbol of the M.A. degree. Some of these master's caps were stiff, some soft, some square, and some round with a tuft in the center. Today's tassel is an elaboration of the tuft. Although round caps are still used at some universities, Oxford University's "mortar board" style is more common.
The most distinguishing feature of academic attire is the hood, which was orginally a practical element of dress, but which evolved into a separate and purely ornamental article draped over the shoulder and down the back. The length of the hood and the width of its velvet designate the level of degree. The color of the velvet edging on the hood specifies the wearer's field of learning.
These colors include:
Agriculture Maize Music Pink Arts, Letters, Humanities White Nursing Apricot Commerce, Accountancy, Business Drab Oratory (Speech) Silver Gray Dentistry Lilac Pharmacy Olive Green Economics Copper Philosophy Dark Blue Education Light Blue Physical Education Sage Green Engineering Orange Public Administration (including Foreign Service) Peacock Blue Fine Arts (including Architecture) Brown Public Health Salmon Pink Forestry Russet Science Golden Yellow Journalism Crimson Social Work (Social Science) Citron Law Purple Theology Scarlet Library Science Lemon Veterinary Science Gray Medicine Green Colors of the silk lining in the center of the hood are those of the college or university that conferred the degree. The tassel may be either black of the color of the field of learning. The tassel of the doctor's cap may be gold.
Pro Christo Et Humanitate
May 2008 Commencement
Shaw University
Saturday, May 10, 2008
11:00 a.m.J.S. Dorton Arena
(J.S. Dorton Arena is located at 1026 Blue Ridge Rd., in the North Carolina State fairgrounds complex.)May ceremony
May Commencement is for Spring candidates and Summer and Fall graduates.
Alumni & Friendshttp://www.shawuniversity.edu/af.htm
Office of Alumni Relations & Planned Giving
Location: Estey Hall - 1st Floor (E. South Street)
Office Hours: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 5:00pm
Telephone: (919) 546-8262 Fax: (919) 546-8485
Parking/Driving Directions/Area Hotels
Driving Directionshttp://www.ncstatefair.org/directions.htm
Area Hotels
2007 Commencement Response Form
118 East South St. Raleigh N.C. 27601 U.S.A. Phone. 919-546-8200
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