Yesterday was almost entirely occupied by my graduation ceremony, which was complicated and rather exhausting but also fun and memorable. I was proud to be a part of it and now I really feel like an Oxford graduate. That's the nice thing about ceremonies.
The day started at 11:45 with the "signing of the graces" at my college. This mainly consisted of signing a list to show that I was present. If I had missed that step, I wouldn't be able to participate in the ceremony, although I would still receive my degree by mail. While we did this, the Dean of Degrees (whom I hadn't met before) gave us some general information about the ceremony. All this was accompanied by a drinks reception (well before noon) with the other graduates and their guests.
Then we had a free lunch (OK, there's no such thing - it was included in my gazillion-dollar tuition), which was a formalish affair with three courses held in a closed-off section of the dining hall. The Senior Tutor said a few words about the joy and importance of the day, then we were served.
The food was quite good but the most memorable part was listening to the mother of an English graduate next to me talk about how much she loves the TV show "Heroes," which happens to be one of our current favorites.
The lunch was over around 1:30, after which we were instructed to gather at the Sheldonian Theatre in downtown Oxford by 2:15 sharp. We had planned to walk downtown but it was really bloody cold, so we drove part way and then took a bus the rest of the way.
Across from the Sheldonian Theatre, I made a mostly failed attempt to make my hair look less windblown in the warmth of Blackwell's bookshop. I've spent a lot of time and money in that shop over the last two years, and I felt quite sentimental about it as I left.
Then David and I went our separate ways. He found a seat inside the Sheldonian Theatre while I met my fellow graduates in the Divinity School, which is the prettiest room in the Bodleian Library. This wasn't related to my degree being in religion - the Bodleian Library once housed the various faculties of the university, so it also has a Philosophy School, Science School, etc. A bonus of the graduation experience is that I got to see a smaller back room of the Divinity School that I didn't even know existed. It was very beautiful, with dark wood stalls.
For the ceremony we were grouped by degree, then by college. There were about ten other graduates from my college and just one other who was getting an MPhil. She was a very nice British girl (never got her name) whose degree was in Modern Middle East Studies. She also had intended to continue to the DPhil but decided not to, and wasn't sure what she was doing next.
None of us had any real idea of what was expected of us in the ceremony, and our Dean of Degrees had given us very little to go on. So most of my "instruction" for the ceremony consisted of rumor and hearsay with other graduates. "When do we bow again?" "I heard we have to say Do Fidem at some point." And so on. We did have a Degree Ceremony booklet, but I barely had a chance to flip through it. In the end, we just watched what other people did and attempted to follow suit.
The vast majority of the ceremony was in Latin, after a brief English introduction from the Vice-Chancellor about why Oxford preserves the traditional ceremony when many other universities have more informal, modern procedures. (The main reasons being respect for the graduates and tradition.)
Unfortunately David had no way of knowing which side of the theatre I would be seated in, and he ended up in the balcony directly above me, where we couldn't see each other. But he could see me during the important parts. So here's an overview in pictures.
The first graduates to do their thing were the DPhils, then the master's degrees (MPhil and the shorter MSc), then the BPhils. The DPhils were done alarmingly fast, then it was our turn!
Here my college dean (with the red hood) is presenting me and the other MPhil to the Vice-Chancellor and Proctors. She does so in Latin, which she is reading from inside her hat!
Translated, she said, "Most Distinguished Vice-Chancellor [here we bow to him], and you, most excellent Proctors [here we bow to the left one, then right one], I present to you these my scholars in the faculty of Arts, that they may be admitted to the Degree of Master of Philosophy." As we bow, the dignitaries in question doff their hats at us. Then we swear to be faithful to the University and its interests by saying Do fidem ("I swear") all together.
Then we left the building.
We walked back around to the Divinity School, where we exchanged our Advanced Student gowns for our Master's gowns and blue hood. (As everyone does, I had rented the new gown from college earlier that day.) This gown was much heavier and nicer, and had embroidery on the sleeves.
It's a good thing it was a more substantial gown, as we then had to wait out in the cold between the Divinity School and Sheldonian Theatre until it was our turn to walk back in. It seemed like a long time as it was very, very cold. Two goofy American guys next to me passed the time by talking about wearing their gown everyday from now on, especially for grocery shopping and when the UPS man comes.
Finally, we made our triumphant return as Masters of Philosophy. We approached the Vice-Chancellor in rows of four and bowed, while everyone applauded for us. Then we left the building again - all done!
On our way back to the car we explored the Christmas market a little more, which was now beautifully draped with Christmas lights, and bought a cheap suitcase to help us pack the car more efficiently. We were both exhausted when we returned to the hotel, but it was a good day! I'm very pleased to be an Oxford graduate, and also to never have to wear sub fusc again.