![\"Bates](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2019\/05\/190526_Commencement_0020.jpg\")
<\/a>Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College<\/p><\/div>\n
7:47 a.m. Sealing the deal<\/h3>\n
One of the most visible parts of Commencement pageantry is the seal of the college, shown being hoisted by a Genie load lifter onto the facade of Coram Library.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College<\/p><\/div>\n
7:49 a.m. Everything in order<\/h3>\n
Facility Services staff bring the diplomas to the stage in front of Coram Library. Registrar Mary Meserve (right) will go through them to make sure, one last time, that everything is in order.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College<\/p><\/div>\n
8:40 a.m. Can\u2019ts into cans onto cap<\/h3>\n
Decorating one\u2019s mortarboard is a growing and poignant trend at Bates. Here, Lauren Drumgold of New York City displays hers: \u201dShe turned her cants into cans and her dreams into a plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/a>Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College<\/p><\/div>\n
8:42 a.m. Finishing touches<\/h3>\n
Many of the graduating seniors have been up all night.\u00a0First there was Midnight Madness, a giant party on the Ladd Plaza, then a 2 a.m. senior breakfast in Commons, then the traditional final hike up Mount David \u2014 and, through it all, the mad dash to tie up loose ends and say goodbye to old friends.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College<\/p><\/div>\n
Now there\u2019s a moment of calm as the graduates wend their way out of Commons or dorms and begin to line up on Alumni Walk. The procession into the Commencement ceremony doesn\u2019t begin until 9:30, so Daniel Fichmann of New York City can take his time helping Arianna Faro \u201919 of Lincolnshire, Ill., adjust her tassel.<\/p>\n
8:55 a.m. Pre-processional<\/h3>\n
While the graduating seniors are lining up on Alumni Walk, faculty, senior college officials, and honorary degree recipients don their Commencement regalia in Pettengill Hall.<\/p>\n
Shown having a quick word with Bates President Clayton Spencer, Charles Franklin Phillips Professor of Economics Michael Murray has a special role to play. As the most senior member of the faculty, he is the mace bearer, leading the procession into the ceremony.<\/p>\n
Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College<\/p><\/div>\n
A medieval symbol of power and authority, the Bates mace was a gift to the college from the Class of 1904. Its decorations and engravings indicate such information as the past presidents of the college, the major academic divisions, and the number of states in the Union.<\/p>\n
8:59 a.m. The last long line<\/h3>\n
By the time of the procession, the graduates are supposed to be lined up in alphabetical order, but most can\u2019t help darting a few places up and down the line to see friends and take pictures.<\/p>\n
Kudzaiishe Irene Mapfunde of Harare, Zimbabwe (right), receives a hug from Abby Myers of Pawtucket, R.I.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College<\/p><\/div>\n
9:15 a.m. Capturing the moment<\/h3>\n
The lines of graduates on both sides of Alumni Walk create a kind of tunnel for passing families, faculty and staff, and fellow students \u2014 a great opportunity to get some candid and not-so-candid photos.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College<\/p><\/div>\n
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9:21 a.m. A minor adjustment<\/h3>\n
Associate Dean of Students for International Student Programs James Reese stands on Alumni Walk, helping to move the line forward as well as greeting and congratulating the students who go by.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College<\/p><\/div>\n
9:29 a.m. Howdy, marshal<\/h3>\n
As the procession begins, junior class marshal Maya Seshan of Wilton, Conn., leads the Class of 2019 onto the Historic Quad. Elected by her classmates and destined to step up as senior marshal next year, Seshan is joined by fellow junior marshal Jin Wei.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n The graduates have actually lined up from Z (Zupancic) to A (Abbott). Once they\u2019ve wrapped around the Historic Quad, faculty and administrators come through the student line, which then folds in on itself, now walking A to Z, to follow the faculty.<\/p>\n Near the head of the procession to the Coram Library Terrace, Bates President Clayton Spencer greets the graduates.<\/p>\n Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College<\/p><\/div>\n Piper Tom Ryan on the steps of Hathorn plays during the processional on Alumni Walk where students have lined up.<\/p>\n Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College<\/p><\/div>\n As the graduates process in, extended family from around the country and the world take their seats on chairs that extend from Coram Library Terrace halfway across the Quad.<\/p>\n Family members of Nana Afua Sekyere of Tampa, Fla., pose for a picture just before the ceremony gets underway. From left, cousin Yaw Poku, uncle Kofi Opoku, and cousin Tony Safo.<\/p>\n Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College<\/p><\/div>\n President Clayton Spencer has welcomed the graduates and their families, and senior speaker Claire Naughton \u201919 has urged her classmates to don their wings and leap into the future. Now, it’s time to confer honorary degrees.<\/p>\n Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College<\/p><\/div>\n The first two honorands were Travis Mills,\u00a0 a Maine resident and Army veteran who became a quadruple amputee in combat and is now an advocate for combat-injured veterans; and Megan Smith,\u00a0CEO of shift7 and a former Google executive and U.S. chief technology officer who is a visionary for tech innovation, collaboration, education, and inclusivity.<\/p>\n Michael Murray now places a hood on DNA-editing pioneer Jennifer Doudna, the Commencement speaker. The hood\u2019s yellow color signifies gold, a callback to the medieval practice of alchemy.<\/p>\n Four hundred sixty-nine members of the Class of 2019 received degrees on May 26. Thirty-six states and 36 countries were represented, and 10 percent of the graduates were the first in their families to go to college.<\/p>\n Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College<\/p><\/div>\n Two-thirds studied abroad during their time at Bates, 94 double-majored, one triple-majored (see below), and 41 received departmental honors for their senior theses. Forty percent played a varsity sport, and 20 won Fulbright awards. They took 232 community-engaged learning courses.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I am most proud of, beyond these impressive facts and figures, are the human qualities you embody,\u201d Bates President Clayton Spencer said in her welcome. \u201cYour adventurous spirits, your creativity, your generosity, and your drive for justice. Most of all, I love your joy in, and caring for, one another.\u201d<\/p>\n Rohan Bhat of Mumbai, a double major in philosophy and in classical and medieval studies, accepts his diploma from President Clayton Spencer.<\/p>\n Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College<\/p><\/div>\n Joseph Frake of St. Petersburg, Fla., who majored in politics, walks back to his seat after receiving his diploma.<\/p>\n Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College<\/p><\/div>\n Faculty marshals Kirk Read, professor of French and francophone studies; and Georgia Nigro, professor of psychology, help get the next set of diplomas ready to hand out.<\/p>\n The honor of faculty marshal \u2014 and the job of leading the procession of faculty and helping distribute diplomas \u2014 \u201cis bestowed on a senior faculty member who has an admiration and respect for the official ceremonies of the college, including commencements, convocations, presidential inaugurations, and any other events that call for an academic procession.\u201d<\/p>\n This is Read\u2019s first turn as a faculty marshal; he stepped in for a colleague who couldn\u2019t make it.<\/p>\n Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College<\/p><\/div>\n Read says he knew about leading the procession but \u201cnever paid attention to the diploma part. The craziness of making sure the name called was the name on the diploma that Georgia passed me did get to feel a bit like a Lucy<\/em> episode<\/a> as the names kept coming, the diplomas circulating, and Clayton’s urgent, expecting hand reaching back hopefully.<\/p>\n \u201cGeorgia was the perfect calm in the storm.\u201d<\/p>\n In triumph, Myles Smith of New York City, who majored in English, holds his diploma aloft.<\/p>\n Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College<\/p><\/div>\n Following giving out diplomas, Spencer tells the graduates to move their tassels from left to right \u2014 signifying that they have received a bachelor of arts or a bachelor of science.<\/p>\n Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College<\/p><\/div>\n From left, Nathanael Kuzio ’19 of Moretown, Vt., Ceria Kurtz of Jakarta, Indonesia, and Emerson Krull of Santa Monica, Calif., happily oblige.<\/p>\n As the Atlantic Clarion Steel Band injects some pep into the recessional, the last set of marshals, the senior marshals, lead the newly graduated seniors away. They are\u00a0Katharine Gaillard of Boston and Michael Driscal Jr. of Cleveland.<\/p>\n Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College<\/p><\/div>\n One of the more poignant Commencement traditions is that, when they recess, the graduates pass through two lines of faculty \u2014 an opportunity for thank-yous and goodbyes.<\/p>\n Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College<\/p><\/div>\n Professor of Mathematics Peter Wong sees a student off with a hug.<\/p>\n Right after Commencement, family members surround Kingdell Valdez of North Andover, Mass., on the steps of Hathorn Hall.<\/p>\n<\/a>9:41 a.m. Processing in<\/h3>\n
<\/a>9:43 a.m. Play, the piper<\/h3>\n
<\/a>9:54 a.m. Family photo<\/h3>\n
<\/a>10:31 a.m. Symbolic hood<\/h3>\n
<\/a>10:48 a.m. 469 strong<\/h3>\n
<\/a>10:50 a.m. Four-year handshake<\/h3>\n
<\/a>11:02 a.m. It’s really there<\/h3>\n
<\/a>11:04 a.m. Assembly line<\/h3>\n
<\/a>11:29 a.m. Victory<\/h3>\n
<\/a>11:42 a.m. Turning tassels<\/h3>\n
<\/a>11:49 a.m. Marshaling success<\/h3>\n
<\/a>11:57 a.m. Hugs goodbye<\/h3>\n
<\/a>12:03 a.m. All comes true<\/h3>\n