Dean: God Shines on Harvard

The sun shone through the trees on the morning of June 4, and Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III appeared relieved as he rushed through the New Yard, scanning the seats and organizing ushers.

The one thing that goes through his mind on a Commencement day, Epps said, is "weather." And the warm, cloudless morning indicated to him that "God's a Harvard man."

Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles, on his way to Massachusetts Hall, had another explanation for the idyllic weather.

"We knew that," he said of God's Harvard background. "The fact that the sun shines must mean that he approves of what we're doing."

It was vintage Harvard pomp and circumstance at the University's 341st Commencement Exercises, when 5804 students from Harvard's 10 schools received degrees under an increasingly hot sun.

Hundreds of alumni, parents and onlookers crowded into Tercentenary Theater. The crowd listened patiently to the choir performances and student orations during the nearly two-hour ceremony. As the sweltering morning wore on, copies of the Order of Exercises fluttered in the air as makeshift fans.

Prasad V. Jallepalli's Latin oration was a "tutorial" for Rudenstine, describing Harvard and eliciting many laughs from the crowd, who read along with a printed translation of the speech.

"The Ship of Harvard admits only the strangest sort of animals--or how else would we have Adams House?" he said--in Latin.

William S. Parsons '92 delivered the undergraduate address, "Fair Harvard, Farewell," in iambic pentameter. Harvard Law School student Peter M. Cicchinio's speech discussed how graduates could best use the "arrogance, contentiousness, and a sense of entitlement" that comes with a Harvard education.

Rudenstine granted degrees in the final portion of the morning ceremony, delivering a traditional speech as graduating classes rose in turn. Enthusiastic graduates from the 10 schools waged a creative battle of sorts, each trying to outdo the last with a final display of class pride.

Medical School students threw tongue depressors in the air as Rudenstine pronounced them graduates. Business School students waved tiny flags, and School of Public Health students threw condoms. Kennedy School students tossed crimson streamers--red tape.

When asked to rise, Law School students erupted into loud cheers and lifted placards reading "HLS Discriminates" and "Dean--let me tell You about Self-esteem." They booed Dean Robert C. Clark, who tipped his hat in response. Some Medical Students hissed at the Law School students' antics.

Rudenstine stressed certain unusual phrases in the traditional speech that would render the law students graduates. He urged the students to "aid in the shaping and application of those Wise restraints that make us free."