Crowd Wowed by Commencement

The sun shone on Harvard again for this year's Commencement exercises as 27,000 people crammed into Harvard Yard, sitting in chairs under the trees of Tercentenary Theater, basking in the light beating down on Widener's steps or lounging in the shade cast by one of the buildings.

Nearly 6,000 students from all of Harvard's schools received degrees on the morning of Thursday, June 6 in a richly historic ceremony befitting the 345th commencement of the nation's oldest university.

Spectators, from those visiting Harvard Yard for the first time to those who have seen dozens of commencement ceremonies, said they were taken away by the splendor of the rite, which begins with the Middlesex County Sheriff calling the meeting to order by rapping a silver-headed staff on the podium and ends with the peals of bells from 17 churches throughout Cambridge.

Carlene L. Williams said she had been to Harvard Yard once before--four years ago when she dropped off her daughter Nancy, who received an A.B. in History this year. She said the ceremony could not have made her prouder.

"It's fantastic--I love the procession," she said. "The men are in tall hats and the women are in long dresses. It's like a step back into nostalgia."

Nearly everyone agreed that the weather was almost perfect, if perhaps a bit too hot. Veteran Commencement-goers, however, said there are always ways to get around the heat. While some folded triangular hats from the many student newspapers handed out before the ceremony, others chose their seats strategically to avoid the sun.

Albert A. Maurinac, a former professor and senior tutor who said he has attended virtually every Commencement since 1958, said he chose his seat in the shade next to Emerson Hall for a reason.

"One year when I was here for my daughter's Law School graduation, I sat on the steps of Widener and thought I was going to boil," Maurinac said.

Having had the chance to witness dozens of these programs, Maurinac said the best part always comes after the actual ceremony, in small parties throughout the campus. Of the rites themselves, however, he said the students' speeches are always the best part.

Maurinac said he always finds the crowd's reaction to the Latin Oration funny. Students are given English translations of the Latin speech made by one of their classmates and thus are able to laugh in all of the appropriate places, he said.

"People who don't know that always say, 'What an educated crowd we have down there,'" he joked.

Even some who are no strangers to commencement are frustrated by the Latin address. Ralph M. Koenker '81 and his wife Tonya J. Koenker, both former proctors, said they didn't get much out of the Latin address but thoroughly enjoyed the other student speeches.

They said they were not, however, looking forward to the keynote Commencement speaker that afternoon, Dr. Harold E. Varmus.

"When we read that's who it was, we thought, 'This couldn't be,'" Mrs. Koenker said.

The younger members of the audience--brothers and sisters of graduates--said they didn't have great expectations for the ceremony to begin with and were pleasantly surprised by the speeches.

"I really liked [Class Day speaker] Tom Brokaw yesterday, and the speeches today were fun and interesting too. It wasn't nearly as boring as I thought it would be," said Mark D. Rudding, the 15-year-old brother of a new College graduate.

The ceremony was far from boring for Eugene Greenan. Sitting between Weld and University Halls, Greenan watched as his 74-year-old wife received her bachelor's degree.

"She always wanted to finish college but we could never afford it," he said. "So after we retired, she went back."

Greenan said he and his family were very proud of his wife and had been looking forward to this day for a long time. His sons and daughters and all of their families flew in from the West coast for the ceremony, he said.

"It was very nice," Greenan said. "I enjoyed it. It was better than I expected--it seems like there's a bigger crowd here, better speeches and more excitement than I expected."