Centennial Video Series: Commencement processions at Rice University

David Ruth
713-348-6327
david@rice.edu

HOUSTON – (April 26, 2012) – One of the most striking parts of a commencement ceremony is the academic procession — faculty and administrators decked out in academic regalia leading degree candidates toward a new phase in life, all marching to the strains of “Pomp and Circumstance.”

Rice’s Class of 2012 will be part of this grand tradition when the university holds its 99th graduation May 12. Owls will hear a commencement address by Khan Academy founder Salman Khan, cross the stage to accept their diplomas, shake President David Leebron’s hand and then walk through Rice’s Sallyport at Lovett Hall.

In the next three weeks, the Centennial Video Series will take a look at Rice’s graduation ceremony from a historical perspective. This week’s video explores the university’s academic procession and ceremonial mace.

Working with Centennial Historian Melissa Kean, video producer Brandon Martin takes a look back at procession at Rice. To learn more about Rice’s history, visit Kean’s blog at www.ricehistorycorner.com.

To help celebrate the university’s centennial Oct. 12, Rice University is producing weekly videos exploring the school’s unique history.

The video, available on YouTube at http://youtu.be/hA5ufFjtAQk, is also available to media in high quality and without music for editing purposes. For higher-quality video, contact David Ruth, director of national media relations at Rice, at david@rice.edu or 713-348-6327.

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Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is known for its “unconventional wisdom.” With 3,708 undergraduates and 2,374 graduate students, Rice’s undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice has been ranked No. 1 for best quality of life multiple times by the Princeton Review and No. 4 for “best value” among private universities by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. To read “What they’re saying about Rice,” go to www.rice.edu/nationalmedia/Rice.pdf.