The ambivalent weather reflected something of the mixed feelings graduations usually bring -- a bittersweet reluctance to leave good friends mixed with an excitement to go forward to new challenges and unseen vistas. Students chosen for special honor carried their residential college or professional school banners during the procession as they marched to cadences composed by Richard Wagner, Hector Berlioz, Sir William Turner Walton and Yale's own Thomas Duffy. Many of the graduates wore decorated mortar boards -- a sprig of greenery for the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, for example.
Awarding of degrees
As balloons bobbed, colorful banners waved and students cheered, President Richard C. Levin presented symbolic degrees to student representatives from Yale College and the University's 11 professional and graduate schools. The concert band broke into a spirited rendition of "Me and Julio Down by the School Yard" in honor of the song's composer, Paul Simon, who was one of eight individuals selected by the Yale Corporation to receive honorary degrees.
Also receiving honorary degrees were neurosurgeon Benjamin Solomon Carson from Johns Hopkins University, who performed the first intrauterine treatment of hydrocephaly in a twin, thus saving both infants from premature birth; artist Chuck Close, who has continued creating his bold canvases despite a 1988 spinal injury that requires him to paint with a special brace; psychologist Eleanor Gibson, who specializes in the development of cognitive processes in children; inventor Jack Kilby, an electrical engineer who invented the monolithic integrated circuit and patented the first hand-held calculator, among 50 other notable microelectronic patents; Judge Richard Posner, a lauded academician and jurist, and author of the influential book "Economic Analysis of Law"; Stephan Schmidheiny, a Swiss industrialist who is considered one of the world's most environmentally conscious business leaders and who was principle business advisor for the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro; and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, creator of the international Special Olympics program.
Following ceremonies on Old Campus, students received individual diplomas and special awards in noon ceremonies at their residential colleges and professional schools. A string quartet played "Pomp and Circumstance" at Saybrook College; Silliman master Kelly Brownell punctuated his remarks with humorous reminiscences; and guests at Jonathan Edwards College were treated to refreshments in ceremonies that expressed the varied personalities of the 12 residential colleges. In addition, five men and women who earned their doctoral degrees at Yale were honored with Wilbur Lucius Cross Medals for outstanding achievement in professional life.
Also that day...
A union rally was also a part of the Memorial Day- Commencement weekend in downtown New Haven. Unions negotiating with Yale on new contracts for 3,700 University employees held a rally on the New Haven Green to coincide with Yale's Commencement ceremonies. The unions, Locals 34 and 35 of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees International Union, also conducted a protest march on city streets adjacent to Old Campus before and after the ceremonies.
The Reverend Jesse Jackson, national organized labor officials and local elected officials were among those who addressed the rally in support of the bargaining proposals of Yale's clerical, technical, service and maintenance workers.