graduation | Frankly Penn

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April 13, 2018 · 9:08 pm

College of Arts & Sciences Graduation Ceremonies in 1993 Preserved on Video

Thanks to classmate Ellen Liebman, C’93, the video of the College of Arts and Sciences graduation from twenty-five years ago has been shared on YouTube!

Ellen found the VHS tapes in her office at Penn and converted them to digital format and uploaded them. You can hear each major being called to the front and every single graduate’s name being announced.

Penn College Graduation 1993 #93tothe25th

Program for the College Graduation on May 16, 1993. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Jarett.

The graudation was held in Convention Hall, now gone and replaced by buildings for Penn Medicine.

The College commencement address was given by Bob Schieffer, father of our classmate Sharon Schieffer Baird.

Ellen posted the ceremony in segments to make it easier for viewing. Watch and see if you remember any of it – Bob Schieffer said we wouldn’t!

College Graduation 1993

Part 1

Part 2

Faculty procession down the center aisle. School of Arts and Sciences Dean Rosemary Stevens opens the graduation ceremony. Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education and Director for the College Matthew Santoraco share remarks. He then announces the distinguished student speaker Margo Schaye (not sure of spelling).

Part 3

Continuation of Margo’s speech. The introduction of the graduation speaker Bob Schieffer (and he references the Walnut Walk!)

Part 4

Bob Schieffer’s address. The beginning of the roll call of graduates, starting with the Department of American Civilization. Then Anthropology and some confusion.

Part 5

Announcing names.

Part 6

Announcing names.

Part 7

Announcing names – video begins with English majors.

Part 8

Still announcing individual names

Part 9

The last few names, the conclusion and the singing of, “The Red and the Blue.”

Part 10

Penn Class of 1993 25th Reunion Countdown

The weekend of March 2 – 3, marked 10 weeks until the 25th Reunion of the Penn Class of 1993 (May 11 – 14, 2018)! Meet us at the Button!

Register NOW to attend our 25th Reunion!

Join us we count down the weeks to our reunion #93tothe25th:

Do you have old photos or mementos from our time at Penn? Photos of Spring Fling? Football at Franklin Field? Classes at DRL? We are taking a trip down memory lane and would love for you to share your memories with our class in a future post. Please email us upenn1993@gmail.com!
Follow us on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram.
Classmates are invited to join our Facebook and LinkedIn groups.
Donate to The Penn Fund in honor of our reunion! We want to break the 25th reunion participation giving record and every gift matters!
Book your hotel room or AirBnB for Alumni Weekend. See our class website for links to hotel options.

Penn Class of 1993 25th Reunion #93tothe25th

70 Years Since Graduating and He’s Still Got the “Hurrah!” for Penn

By Kiera Reilly, C’93 @KieraReilly

I always tell people that Commencement Day at Penn is the happiest day on campus, and this year, on May 19 as Penn celebrated its 258th Commencement, was no exception. In Alumni Relations, we help with the alumni processional portion of the event – alumni from every undergraduate class at Penn carry flags from their graduating year and march into Franklin Field after the graduates.

We arrive early in the morning, so we can “get robed” in our caps and gowns, and then wait for the alumni to arrive. The alumni robing is near the academic processional staging area, and I happened to be looking at President Gutmann and commencement speaker John Legend’s, C’99, chairs when the University Mace was delivered. Leslie Kruhly, the Secretary of the University, leads the academic procession carrying the mace.

The staging area for the academic procession. The University’s mace was just delivered.

Me and my colleague Casey Ryan, C'95. We lead the alumni procession down Locust Walk and into Franklin Field.

My colleague Casey Ryan, C’95, and I are robed and ready to go. We led the alumni procession down Locust Walk and into Franklin Field.

After everyone is robed, we wait a bit before we get the cue to begin. Here everyone is lined up waiting for the academic procession to pass.

The alumni procession waiting for the academic procession.

Then we march down Locust Walk to the front of the Sweeten Alumni House. It was a beautiful day and everyone on campus was lining the walk cheering and clapping for the alumni.

Alumni flag bearers line Locust Walk to congratulate the newest Penn Alumni!

The alumni flag bearers then line Locust Walk and wait for the graduates. The graduates march down Locust Walk through our line of alumni flags, and the alumni cheer, clap and congratulate the newest members of Penn Alumni.

Some graduates casually walk by, others pose for pictures with their friends, or their parents and family try to capture a candid moment of them walking to graduate. And in the midst of the several thousand graduates passing us by, at the front of the alumni flag line, was Harry Gross, W’44. Harry graduated in 1944, that’s seventy years ago for those of you having a bit of trouble with the math. He wore a fun Red and Blue hat, and as he sat in his chair holding the Class of 1944 flag, he was arguably the most popular man on Locust Walk. Yes, everyone wanted to wave to President Gutmann and take a selfie with John Legend, but Harry was the star.

Graduates thanked him for coming. They shook his hand, they said wow. And when they said congratulations, Harry simply replied, “Congratulations to YOU!” And then he told them that they’d be in his same spot in seventy years!

Posing with Harry

Congratulations to Penn’s Class of 2014! We’ll see you in 2084 (and we hope every year in between).

Hurrah, Hurrah, for the Red and the Blue!

Commencement from the alumni flag bearer’s view.

Here’s Harry leading the alumni processional into Franklin Field.

Watch videos of President Gutmann’s commencement speech and John Legend’s address here (and also photos of the day).

See all the Penn Commencement tweets #PennGrad.

Tag Archives: graduation