A degree ceremony at the University of Oxford, England

A couple days ago my mind returned to some posts I made back in the infancy of TempleStudy.com in 2008.  These posts were about the commencement exercises at Oxford University.  Now that seems quite odd, doesn’t it?  What would commencement exercises have anything to do with the temple?  Well let me tell you.  The Oxford commencement exercises as practiced today may be the oldest, longest-running, and relatively unaltered degree ceremonies still in existence, and their forms are still quite archaic, yet very familiar.  Yes, even older than Freemasonry.

Oxford University, in Oxford England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world.  Indeed, its beginnings date back to the 11th century!  That’s old.  Furthermore, they claim that their commencement exercises, also called “degree ceremonies,” have remained unchanged for over 800 years.  That’s a long time.  Therefore, much of what is seen today in the forms of the Oxford commencement are totally unrecognizable to the modern world.  Undoubtedly even the graduates are likely baffled at the performances during the meeting.  No other university does it quite like they do.  On the other hand, much of what happens in the ceremony will be strikingly familiar to the endowed Latter-day Saint.

In 1906 a fellow by the name of Joseph Wells published a study about these ceremonies at Oxford, which I dug into quite a bit, and found quite a treasure trove of interesting parallels to modern LDS temple worship.  Of course, I only point out the Oxford side of the coin.  Why do these ceremonies have such interesting elements?  Perhaps it was when Joseph Smith took his spring vacation to Oxford in early 1842 and witnessed the ceremonies first-hand, and thought there were some good things in there, ripe for borrowing.  Joking aside, the origination of the forms of the Oxford ceremonies is up for investigation.  I only took a passing look into what they are like today.

Here are the links to my original posts in 2008:

Part 1, Introduction - http://www.templestudy.com/2008/06/27/the-degree-ceremonies-of-oxford-university-part-1/
Part 2, Wells study - http://www.templestudy.com/2008/06/29/the-degree-ceremonies-of-oxford-university-part-2/
Part 3, YouTube videos – http://www.templestudy.com/2008/06/30/the-degree-ceremonies-of-oxford-university-part-3/
Part 4, Wells continued - http://www.templestudy.com/2008/07/01/the-degree-ceremonies-of-oxford-university-part-4/

I’m interested in hearing thoughts about where these exercises may have come from.  Please let us know your comments.

P.S.  The matriculation ceremonies at some universities also offer some peculiarities, as seen in this clip with Julia Roberts in the movie Mona Lisa Smile.

The Oxford Commencement as the Oldest Degree Ceremonies Extant: A Reprise

(Continued from Part 3)

Some more tidbits of information from Wells’ The Oxford Degree Ceremonies that might interest you:

• The oath or charge to “observe the ‘statutes, privileges, customs and liberties’ of his university” and the accompanying affirmation “Do fidem” (“I swear”) are most likely over 700 years old, and initially were important to keep a unity among those who had subscribed to the university, and to keep out encroachments.
• The M.A.s are “exempt from Proctorial jurisdiction…” and “It is the M.A. who is admitted by the Vice-Chancellor to ‘begin’, i.e. to teach (ad incipiendum), when he is presented to him,” and many universities now call the end of the academic study “Commencement” because of this.
• A degree is a “‘step’ by which the distinction of becoming a full member” of the university is acquired.  Wells notes Gibbon’s idea that “the use of academical degrees is visibly borrowed from the mechanic corporations, in which an apprentice, after serving his time, obtains a testimonial of his skill, and his license to practise his trade or mystery.” 
• The Bachelor degree was an apprentice degree, an assistant, a pupil-teacher.
• The authority that the Vice-Chancellor had to grant degrees was originally from the Church of England.
• The degree was conferred by two modes:  first, by consent of the existing Masters, and second, by the giving of a “licence” by the Chancellor.  Originally, the granting of the license was conditional by participation in what is called the ceremonial “Act,” which has almost been completely abandoned in modern times.
  

  At it Masters and Doctors formally showed that they were able to perform the function of their new rank, and were then ‘admitted’ to it by investiture with the ‘cap’ of authority [birettatio, or "laying on of the cap"], with the ‘ring’, and with the ‘kiss’ of peace; the kiss was given by the Senior Proctor; the ring was the symbol of the inceptor’s mystical marriage to his science.

• The ceremonies of the “Act” were completely lost – “those ancient ceremonies and institution (sic) being as yet not wholly abolished…”, were last mentioned in 1733.
• M.A.s had to show their qualifications for the degree by “publicly attacking or defending theses solemnly approved for discussion by Congregation.”
• Some traces of the “Act” are preserved in the literary, musical, and celebratory Encaenia, a dedicatory ceremonial event which precedes graduation.  Interestingly, this has connections with the Feast of Dedication (also called the “Feast of Lights” or Hanukkah).  Wikipedia notes about Encaenia:
  

  The word is derived from the Greek word ‘εγκαίνια’, meaning a festival of renewal or dedication, and corresponds to the Latin term Commencement.

  Hanukkah is “is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE”.  Such a feast is mentioned in John 10:22.

  Such dedications are usually done to consecrate altars, temples, or other sacred buildings.

• This commemoration includes all the pomp worthy of the the academics:
  

  Commemoration may be, as John Richard Green said, ‘Oxford in masquerade’; there may be ‘grand incongruities, Abyssinian heroes robed in literary scarlet, degrees conferred by the suffrages of virgins in pink bonnets and blue, a great academical ceremony drowned in an atmosphere of Aristophanean (sic) chaff.

• Examinations were required anciently that were “rigorous and tremendous.” Robert de Sorbonne, the founder of the Paris college, gave a sermon once in which he compared the academic examinations with the Last Judgement:
  

  …it need hardly be said that the moral of the sermon is the greater severity of the heavenly test as compared with the earthly; if a man neglects his prescribed book, he will be rejected once, but if he neglect ‘the book of conscience, he will be rejected for ever’.

• One of the examinations anciently was known as Responsions.  Wikipedia notes:
  

  It was nicknamed the Little Go and was generally taken by students prior to or shortly after matriculation.  The examination consisted of comparatively simple questions on Latin, Ancient Greek and mathematics. . . . The name derives from Anglo-French responsion, Medieval Latin responsion, and from Latin responsio, to answer, or give a response.

  Candidates that passed the Responsions were called “sophista generalis,” meaning you had now become a true Sophist, which continues today in our term “sophomore.”

• An interesting aspect of the examination is that it was more concerned with the process, the procedure, the journey, and of becoming something, rather than reproducing knowledge – “it sought its qualifications on all sides of a man’s life.“  Those were admitted who were to be “fit in knowledge and [good] character.”
• Another curious tradition that was part of the degree ceremony was the deposition of certain witnesses who would testify of the fitness of the candidate for the degree they were seeking.  They had to “swear this from ‘sure knowledge’” and “to the best of their belief.”  The process took place as follows:
  

  These depositions were whispered into the ears of the Proctor by the witnesses kneeling before him.  The information was given on oath, and as it were under the seal of confession; for neither they nor the Proctors were allowed to reveal it.

• Much importance was placed on the academic dress.  It was symbolic – “From the soberest drab to the high flaming scarlet, spiritual idiosyncrasies unfold themselves in the choice of colour; if the cut betoken intellect and talent, so does the colour betoken temper and heart.”  Any alteration of the dress style was to be punished by imprisonment.
• The academic dress (gowns, caps and hoods) was to be procured by the candidate, by an oath, and was to be worn “on all proper occasions”.  Wouldn’t that be interesting if this statute continued to be practiced today?  But certain sacred clothing does find itself a permanent station or investiture in certain circumstances.
• The marks of the academic dresses, hoods, caps, colors, etc., all corresponded to your station in the University.
• Some of their cloaks were to be died purple to “suite the dignity of their position and to be like the blood of The Lord.”
• Being dressed with the gown was a noted experience:
  

  The gown, the ‘putting on’ of which is now the distinguishing mark of the taking of the B.A. or M.A., is simply the survival of a mediaeval garment which was not even clerical, the long gown (toga) or cassock, which was worn under the cappa [cape].

• The hood had its proper place in the ceremonial clothing:
  

  The mark, however, which specially distinguished the degree was the hood, as to which the University was always strict, assigning the proper material and the proper colour to that of each faculty. . . . Originally it seems to have been attached to the cappa, and, as its name implies, was used for covering (the head) when required. . . . The M.A. hood, even in its present mutilated form, still presents survivals of the time when it was a real head covering…

• The “cap of authority” was invested as part of the ceremonial “Act” in former times at Oxford University.  The style of the cap was unique and peculiar, and had quite a history:
  

  The cap was sometimes square (biretta), and sometimes round (pileus). Gascoigne (writing in 1456) tells us that in his day the round cap was worn by Doctors of Divinity and Canon Law, and that is had always been so since the days of King Alfred; not content with his antiquity, he also affirms that the round cap was given by God Himself to the doctors of the Mosaic Law [agreeing with Nibley's proposition].  He adds the more commonplace but more trustworthy information that the cap was in those days fastened by a string behind, to prevent its falling off.

  Wells adds that some of the modern inventions are not improvements to the archaic form:

  The modern stiff corners of the cap are an addition . . . the old cap drooped gracefully from its tuft in the centre . . . Later usage has specialized the round cap of velvet as belonging to the Doctors of Law and Medicine, and a most beautiful head-gear it is; it is preserved, in a less elaborate form, at the degree ceremony in the round caps of the Bedels.

  The tuft was eventually replaced by the tassel.  The universal alteration, adoption, and subsequent loss of symbolism of the cap is denounced by Wells:

  With the disappearance of social distinctions in dress, the tassel has been extended to all, except to choir-boys, and so the coveted badge of the mediaeval Master is now the property of all University ranks, and is undervalued and neglected in the same proportion as it has been rendered meaningless.

• Wells is disappointed overall in the stability of the academic dress over time:
  

  Academic dress has sadly lost its picturesqueness, especially for the undergraduate; his gown no longer reaches to his heels, as the statute still requires it to do . . . At the present time the scanty relics of mediaeval usage are at the mercy of the tailers; and though it must be said for their respresentatives in Oxford that they do their best to maintain old traditions, yet there is no doubt that innovations are slowly but steadily introduced . . .

• The Sheldonian Theatre was a consecrated building, originally built and “set apart for the immediate worship of God.”  This was the same arrangement for the older location of degree ceremonies, the Divinity School.

I hope this has been an educational analysis into the origins of the graduation attire, and more particularly the ceremonies, which date to over a millenia ago.

The Degree Ceremonies of Oxford University – Part 4

(Continued from Part 2)

For those of you who don’t want to wade through my analysis of the Oxford degree ceremony in the last part, or if you’d just like to see what the presentation is like, the degree ceremony that took place on September 28, 2007 at Oxford University was formally videotaped and posted on YouTube just recently.  Be prepared to hear some Latin.  It is divided into seven parts, and is about an hour long total.  I think you will find the ceremony very interesting to watch.

You may see them below: (See below these for another version, with subtitles).

Part 1 – Expand/Collapse

Part 2 – Expand/Collapse

Part 3 – Expand/Collapse

Part 4 – Expand/Collapse

Part 5 – Expand/Collapse

Part 6 – Expand/Collapse

Part 7 – Expand/Collapse

There is also a homemade videotaped version of the ceremony posted on YouTube.  It follows the experience of a graduate named Jacob and his family as he goes through the commencement exercises.  It is shorter, divided into three parts, and has subtitles in English (for those of you who are not fluent in Latin).  You can see it here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

(Continued in Part 4)

The Degree Ceremonies of Oxford University – Part 3

(Continued from Part 1)

Dr. Hugh Nibley’s opening remarks in his earthshaking address, “Leaders to Managers: The Fatal Shift,” given at the BYU commencement ceremony on August 19, 1983, would have fit even more perfectly in an Oxford setting. In refering to his statement in a commencement prayer he gave in 1960 in which he said, “We have met here today clothed in the black robes of a false priesthood,” he took this opportunity to explain:

Why a priesthood? Because these robes originally denoted those who had taken clerical orders; and a college was a “mystery,” with all the rites, secrets, oaths, degrees, tests, feasts, and solemnities that go with initiation into higher knowledge.

But why false? Because it is borrowed finery, coming down to us through a long line of unauthorized imitators. It was not until 1893 that “an intercollegiate commission was formed . . . to draft a uniform code for caps, gowns, and hoods” in the United States. Before that there were no rules. You could design your own; and that liberty goes as far back as these fixings can be traced. The late Roman emperors, as we learn from the infallible DuCange, marked each step in the decline of their power and glory by the addition of some new ornament to the resplendent vestments that proclaimed their sacred office and dominion. . . . 

But where did the Roman emperors get it? For one thing, the mortarboard was called a Justinianeion, because of its use by the Emperor Justinian, who introduced it from the East. He got his court trappings and his protocol from the monarchs of Asia. . . . The shamans of the North also had it. . . .

Another type of robe and headdress is described in Exodus and Leviticus and the third book of Josephus’s Antiquities, i.e., the white robe and linen cap of the Hebrew priesthood, which has close resemblance to some Egyptian vestments. . . . Both their basic white and their peculiar design, especially as shown in the latest studies from Israel, are much like our own temple garments. . . . The original idea behind both garments is the same—to provide a clothing more fitting to another ambience, action, and frame of mind than that of the warehouse, office, or farm. . . .

Both the black and the white robes proclaim a primary concern for things of the mind and the spirit, sobriety of life, and concentration of purpose removed from the largely mindless, mechanical routines of your everyday world. Cap and gown announced that the wearer had accepted certain rules of living and been tested in special kinds of knowledge.

Nibley continues to explain how the robes’ purpose shifted from setting someone apart from the world, to making a public display of someone’s supposed wisdom and knowledge before the world, to “masquerade in affectation.” It was a system that the Sophists set up in order to sell their knowledge to the highest bidder, who would then be given the same trappings to parade before their inferiors.

And down through the centuries the robes have never failed to keep the public at a respectful distance, inspire a decend awe for the professions, and impart an air of solemnity and mystery that has been as good as money in the bank. . . . What took place in the Greco-Roman as in the Christian world was that fatal shift from leadership to management that marks the decline and fall of civilizations. . . .

In a forgotten time, before the Spirit was exchanged for the office and inspired leadership for ambitious management, these robes were designed to represent withdrawal from the things of this world—as the temple robes still do. That we may become more fully aware of the real significance of both is my prayer.

We will see just how fully the university orders sought to imitate the order of the Ancient of Days, just as the Egyptians did thousands of years before them (Abraham 1:26). But, as always, we will follow Nibley’s example and precedence in that we will “describe and discuss only one of them [Oxford's degrees], preserving complete silence on the other [the Mormon temple],” and that “what is glaringly obvious to [the author] hardly needs to be called to the attention of any adult practicing Latter-day Saint . . .”.

As I mentioned in the previous post, Joseph Wells, former tutor and Warden of Wadham College at Oxford, who wrote a book in 1906 entitled The Oxford Degree Ceremonies, will be our guide. I did find a more recent study by L. H. Dudley Buxton that was published in 2007 under the title Oxford University Ceremonies, but I did not have as much access to this book. Wells’ analysis, on the other hand, is in the public domain.

In recent times, the degree ceremonies have taken place at the Sheldonian theatre at the university (see the picture at the beginning of the post). The officials of the ceremony include the Vice Chancellor, the Proctors, and the Registrar, who make their dramatic entrance in procession, being preceded by three staves or maces as symbols of authority. The proceedings follow like this:

• The Vice-Chacellor begins the assembly, called “the Ancient House of Congregation,” by declaring “the ’cause of this Congregation’”. This is done in English (the rest of the following ceremony proceeds in Latin), and usually includes a description of the ceremony and why they preserve the ancient tradition whereas other universities are more informal, the reason being respect for the graduates and tradition.
• The ceremony begins by a declaration from the Registrar that all prerequisites of the participants to participate in this ceremony have been taken care of previously – “the candidates for the degrees have duly received permissions (gratiae) from their Colleges to present themselves, and that their names have been approved by him; he has already certified himself from the University Register that all necessary examinations have been passed, and has been informed officially that all fees have been paid”.Such graces (gratiae) given from each of the Colleges read:
  

  “I, A.B., Dean of the College C.D., bear witness that E.F. of the College C.D., whom I know to have kept bed and board continuously within the University for the whole period required by the statues for the degree of B.A., according as the statues require, since he has undergone a public examination and performed all the other requirements of the statues, except so far as he has been dispensed, has received from his college the grace for the degree of B.A. Under my pledged word to this University.
  -A.B., Dean of the College C.D.”

• The degrees are taken in the order of Doctor of Divinity, Doctor of Civil Law or of Medicine, Bachelor of Divinity, Master of Surgery, Bachelor of Civil Law or of Medicine, Doctor of Letters or of Science, Master of Arts, Bachelor of Letters or of Science, Bachelor of Arts, and finally Musical degrees. The same forms for bestowing the degrees described below are followed for each of these separate degrees, and are thus repeated for each. Wells notes the importance of the repetition: “but it is important to remember that the essentials recur in each admission . . . This repetition was once a much more prominent feature; within living memory it was necessary for each ‘grace’ to be taken separately, and the Proctors ‘walked’ for each candidate. Degree ceremonies in those days went on to an interminable length, although the number graduating was only half what it is now”. The degree is granted in a fourfold process:
  1. Supplication – A supplication (supplicat) is made by one of the Proctors, a petition or appeal of the House to allow the candidate(s) to be allowed to receive their degree. A sample from an M.A. degree is given:
     

     E.F. of C. College, Bachelor of Arts, who has completed all of the requirements of the statues (except so far as he has been excused), asks of the venerable Congregation of Doctors and Regent Masters that these things may suffice for his admission to incept in the same faculty.

     The Proctor next reads each of the names of the candidates to receive the degree. After supplication, both Proctors walk down the House of Congregation, turn, and walk back. This is, in theory, the way the Proctors take votes of the M.A.s present for the ceremony – “it is the clear and visible assertion of the democratic character of the University; it implies that every qualified M.A. has a right to be consulted as to the admission of others to the position which he himself has attained”. Today, such a procession is mostly symbolic and traditional. After returning to their seats, one of the Proctors declares “‘the graces (or grace) to have been granted’…”

  2. Presentation – Following supplication, the candidates are presented before the Vice-Chancellor and Proctors by the Dean or professor at the head of the respective colleges, placing the candidate(s) on his/her right hand side, and grasping their right hand to one of the candidates’ right hands. The Dean and candidate(s) give a “proper bow” (debita reverentia) towards the Vice-Chancellor and each of the Proctors as the Dean, in the case of the M.A., says,
     

     Most eminent Vice-Chancellor, and excellent Proctors, I present this B.A. to you for admission to incept in the faculty of Arts.

     Wells notes the peculiarity of the grasp of the right hands:

     The old custom was that the presenter should grasp the hand of each candidate and present him separately; some senior members of the University still hold the hand of one of their candidates, though the custom of separate presentation has been abolished; there was an intermediate stage fifty years ago, when the number of those who could be presented at once was limited to five; each of them held a finger or a thumb of the presenter’s right hand.

  3. Proctorial Charge or Oath – A charge is delivered by one of the Proctors to the candidate(s) for each degree. At one time, a copy of the New Testament was given by the Bedel, on which the candidate(s) took their oath. The charge given to the doctorates and M.A.s is as follows:
     

     You will swear to observe the statues, privileges, customs and liberties of your University. Also when you have been admitted to Congregation and to Convocation you will behave in them loyally and faithfully to the honour and profit of the University And especially in matters concerning graces and degrees you will not oppose those who are fit or support the unfit. Also in elections you will write down and nominate one only and no more at each vote; and you will nominate no one but a man whom you know for certain or surely believe to be fit and proper.

     The candidate(s) then bow their head and say, “Do fidem,” which is Latin for “I swear.” During this portion the candidate is sometimes facilitated by a helper, particularly in modern times when many of the candidate(s) do not understand the ceremony which is mostly done in Latin.

     The oath given to the B.A.s or other degrees is shorter:

     You will swear to observe the statutes, privileges, customs and liberties of your University, as far as they concern you.

     Here Wells notes that the first part of the charge dates back to the beginning, while the rest is a modern composition. Apparently, earlier oaths were much more elaborate, including a charge for the candidate(s) to quickly obtain the dress appropriate for his/her degree.

     Degrees given to doctorates or bachelors in Divinity are given a different oath, by the senior of the candidate(s) first saying:

     I, A.B., do solemnly make the following declaration. I assent to the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion and to the Book of Common Prayer and of the ordering of biahops, priests, and deacons, and I believe the doctrine of the United Church of England and Ireland, as therein set forth, to be aggreable to the Word of God.

     The Proctor then charges the other candidate(s) that they will vicariously take upon themselves the same charge:

     The declaration which A.B. has made on his part, you will make on your part, together and severally.

     The candidate(s) always state their agreement by bowing and saying, “I swear.”

  4. Admission – The candidate(s) kneel before the Vice-Chancellor, who touches each on the head with the New Testament and repeats the formula:
     

     For the honour of our Lord Jesus Christ, and for the profit of our holy mother, the Church, and of learning, I, in virtue of my own authority and that of the whole University, give you permission to incept in the Faculty of Arts (or of Surgery, &c.), of reading, disputing, and performing all the other duties which belong to the position of a Doctor (or Master) in that same faculty, when the requirements of the statues have been complied with, in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

• Before the ceremony continues to other degrees, the candidates exit the building and completely change their gowns to the appropriate academic gown and hood according to their specific degree or authority they’ve been granted. They receive their new gown by giving a gratuity or “tip” of gold, the money prescribed by custom, to the college servants who await them outside. (As if the students haven’t already deposited fortunes of filthy lucre into the coffers of the university treasury; you can buy anything in this world for money). This gown is described as “much heavier and nicer, and had embroidery on the sleeves”.Then the new Doctors or Masters come back into the building, come before the Vice-Chancellor, bow again, and sometimes shake hands with the Vice-Chancellor. The new Doctors, the highest degree bestowed, are then admitted to take their place among the authorities on the raised stand behind and around the Vice-Chancellor. They are now initiated into and among the top brass of the university and secular world. The M.A.s and B.A.s are permitted to leave, or sit elsewhere among the congregation. They haven’t graduated as far as the Doctors degrees.
• The preceding is repeated for each of the degrees. Once this is finished, the Vice-Chancellor rises and announces, “Dissolvimus hanc Congregationem,” ending the service. The Vice-Chancellor, Proctors, and other officials leave the building in the same processional style as in the beginning.

We will continue to examine this ceremony in the next installment.

(Continued in Part 3)

The Degree Ceremonies of Oxford University – Part 2

The University of Oxford in Oxford, England is “the oldest university in the English-speaking world”.  It is also one of the “world’s leading academic institutions”.  Its history dates back to the 11th century CE, and its Christian ties are evident from its crest which reads “The Lord is my Light” in Latin.  When an argument broke out in 1209, some disbanded and headed north-east to found the University of Cambridge, “the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world”.

While there are many interesting implications that could be stated from the antiquity of this institution, the aspect which interests us here is that they claim their commencement ceremonies have remained unchanged for over 800 years.

In the year 1906 a tutor and later Warden of Wadham College at Oxford, Joseph Wells, published a concise yet fantastic study entitled The Oxford Degree Ceremony in which he chronicles the history and development of their degree ceremony, with all its trappings and forms, from its infancy in the twelfth century to the current day.  Wells describes the antiquity of the ritual of the graduation exercises, and the particular importance given to its constancy:

…in the conferment of University Degrees are preserved formulae as old as the University itself, and a ritual which, if understood, is full of meaning as to the oldest University history.  The formulae, it is true, are veiled in the obscurity of a learned language, and the ritual is often a mere survival, which at first sight may seem trivial and useless; but those who care for Oxford will wish that every syllable and every form that has come down to us from our ancient past should be retained and understood.

Although even Wells admits that such long-term stability of the ceremonies is more of an ideal than a reality, noting that what is lost may never be humanly possible to restore:

…and though it must be said for their representatives in Oxford that they do their best to maintain old traditions, yet there is no doubt that innovations are slowly but steadily introduced… Perhaps in the near future Oxford may bestir itself in this matter, and see that nothing more is lost of its mediaeval survivals; restoration of what is actually gone is probably hopeless.

Even with certain themes missing or altered, the proceedings of the Oxford degrees have many remnants of an ancient character, most of which have been almost completely dissolved in the dispersion of the forms in the universities, colleges, and schools throughout the world.  If we are to understand the origins and modes of our own graduation practices (and other analogous rites), an analysis of Oxford’s as one of the first in the secular system is very educational.

With Wells as our guide, first we will take a look at the current forms of the Oxford ceremonies, after which we will see what some of the more archaic uses were which have been removed.

(Continued in Part 2)

The Degree Ceremonies of Oxford University – Part 1

Not only do the graduation ceremonies of universities have interesting ritual qualities, but the matriculation ceremonies do also. The commentor Jonovitch on the Times and Seasons blog also made a reference to one of the opening scenes from the movie Mona Lisa Smile. This scene is from a 1953 matriculation ceremony, or a type of induction or initiation, of Wellesley College, a conservative women’s private liberal arts college in Massachusetts.

I’ve seen this movie at least twice, but this scene did not strike me as it did when I viewed it this last time in the context of the temple. The ritual qualities are salient:

• The students gather outside the door, while those of higher orders, their professors, gather within
• One student knocks 3-4 times with a gavel on the door to announce her presence
• The head officiator asks who is there
• The student outside responds that she represents every woman, a vicarious voice for all
• The officiator asks what is sought
• The student gives a correct answer, she seeks to awaken the spirit (the Egyptian breath of life) and dedicate her life to knowledge, knowledge that can only be found within the institution of higher knowledge
• The officiator allows the student to enter, noting that all others who seek to follow the same path may also enter

I am not as familiar with the ancient traditions of matriculation ceremonies as I have been with their graduation counterparts, and I haven’t been able to find much information about them. Can anyone tell me a good source to learn more about matriculation tradition and history?

It is interesting to me that the order of things seems backwards when compared with their partners from antiquity, such as in the Christian and Greek mysteries. Typically the final rites are those which allow those who have passed the tests, and who have endured the arduous journeys, to enter into the presence of the teleoi, or those who have been made perfect (Nibley, The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri, 465). The matriculation ceremony is just the opposite; the initiate begins with such an entrance.

Mona Lisa Smile – Matriculation Ceremony

Here Dr. Hugh Nibley quotes himself in one of his most well-known sayings. The video is taken from his prominent BYU commencement address he gave on August 19, 1983 that he entitled “Leaders to Managers: The Fatal Shift.” We smile and chuckle at the brazenness with which Nibley makes this tongue in cheek submission. But is there any real merit to what he said? He seemed to think so; that is why he took the opportunity of this commencement address to explain himself.

In classic Nibley style he goes on to talk about how the graduation ceremonies have become a type of priesthood, a false one at that, and about the caps, gowns, and hoods and their origins in medieval times, and even dating back to the Bible, being very similar to the white robes and linen caps of the Hebrew priesthood. Indeed, the departure from the original intended use of such ceremonial apparel is so vast that Nibley brings up a comical hypothetical:

“What if I appeared for an endowment session in the temple dressed in this outfit I’m wearing now?” There would be something incongruous about it, perhaps even comical. But why should that be so? The original idea behind both garments is the same—to provide a clothing more fitting to another ambience, action, and frame of mind than that of the warehouse, office, or farm. Doctrine and Covenants 109 describes the function and purpose of the temple as much the same as those of a university: A house where all seek learning by study and faith, by a discriminating search among the best books (no official list is given—you must search them out), and by constant discussion—diligently teaching “one another words of wisdom”; everybody seeking greater light and knowledge as all things come to be “gathered in one”—hence university (D&C 109:7, 14; 42:36).

Nibley continues to address the vestige, explaining that what makes them different than the real deal is precisely what is wrong with them—they are worldly, opulent, apostate symbols, outwardly proclaiming stations, attainments, or degrees which neither rightly profess the inward intelligence of their wearers nor their attainment of any true light or skill of merit. I heard just a few days ago from a well-known radio talk show host the same truth, that education itself does little to advance us. One can purchase a degree today with the flick of a finger. What makes the difference is how we apply that education. What skills do we possess, what virtue, honesty, integrity, truth and right do we fight for? What difference are we making in the world? How do we use the education that we’ve attained? But the philosophy of the Sophists has become much too solidified into our culture such that many locales of employment will not even consider applicants without that scrap of paper with their name so neatly written, no matter how high their skill level or experience. While at the same time, those of high certificates are accepted and exalted no matter their actual talent. Of course, this isn’t anything new. The Old Testament attests to the same – “for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7; see also 2 Cor. 10:7, and Christ’s words in Matt. 23:27–28).

Although torn from their original environment and context, like most fragments of the temple experience have come down to us, they are nevertheless very instructive in the parallels they present to the restored ordinances that were revealed through the prophet Joseph Smith. A comment by Jonovitch on the Times and Seasons blog makes some additional observations of the graduation exercises (proceeding carefully by only describing one side and not the other, for most Latter-day Saints will immediately “hear the ringing of familiar bells” (Nibley, The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri, xxvi)):

• receiving a higher “degree” of knowledge
• some being clothed with ropes, hoods, banded sleeves, or other special markings to identify their distinction or level of knowledge as Undergraduates, Masters or Doctorate degrees
• being in the presence of family, siblings, friends, and associates who affirm our right to receive the degree
• the exercises in the deJong Concert Hall at BYU are especially dramatic with the use of the stage curtain which is drawn back to reveal the students graduating
• being called forward one by one as your name is called
• the head of the college, or supreme “knowledge-giver”, shaking your hand and presenting a token of your advancement, your diploma (although noting the actual receipt of the diploma comes later as long as you are faithful in completing and scoring well on your last classes, finals and theses!)
• crossing from one side of the stage to the other, the graduate moves the tassel from the right side to the left side of their cap (although Wikipedia notes that this mark of transition or advancement in status was traditionally done by “individual conferring of the hood, or a complete change of dress part-way through the ceremony”)
• some ceremonies of higher learning are even more striking in their ritual qualities, such as those displayed at the beginning of the movie Mona Lisa Smile, which I will talk about in my next post.

The degree of imitation of these counterfeit rites even caused the blog post’s author, Ben Huff, to abstain from walking in his own graduation. Can we blame him? Must we “rummage in a magpie’s nest” when we have the unadulterated “king’s treasury” before us (Nibley, The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri, xxviii)?

But tradition is tradition, and Latter-day Saints might actually find themselves feeling more comfortable in the familiar trappings and forms of graduation ceremonies than many others.

It is notable to recognize the difference with which the world upholds the two rites, however. The graduation of a university or college is considered one of the most solemn and dignified orders of business in the world, the ceremonies carefully administered, and speeches given by presidents, consulates, dignitaries, and other officers of high rank. While many in the world, when they learn about the LDS temple practice, look down upon it with scorn, ridicule, and suspicion, suspecting only the most dark of circumstances and fears, which apparently reveals the Church’s “murky past” as one political pundit put it recently.

Let it be known that the LDS temple has the real deal.

The Black Robes of a False Priesthood