Cautionary advice to students ahead of their graduation ceremonies
Do NOT use this solemn and happy occasion for political activism
A parent recently lamented to me about the hostile atmosphere that he encountered while attending his daughter’s graduation ceremony at her university. This was supposed to be a joyful day for him, his wife, and their daughter, but they sat through 3 hours of angry proclamations from certain graduates and their supporters in the audience.
Sadly, this has become typical at many universities, where graduation ceremonies have become more notable for the students’ political activism than the celebration of their academic achievements. As students walk across the stage to receive their degree parchments or deliver the valedictorian speeches, some of them use these brief moments of attention to proclaim strong political opinions - often in angry tones and provocative vocabulary. Some protestors also chant their slogans loudly in the background.
I am fully sympathetic to that parent’s frustrations. It doesn’t matter if you agree or disagree with the activists’ opinions; a graduation ceremony is not the time or place to conduct political activism.
Many students worked hard to earn their degrees.
Their parents made sacrifices to help them toward these achievements.
Their professors worked hard to educate them in their courses and mentored them in their academic journeys.
The university’s staff worked hard to arrange the graduation ceremony.
This may be the final time that these students will ever see their classmates and professors for a very long time - if ever. It is a chance for them to say good-bye and thank the people who made a positive difference in their lives.
A graduation ceremony is dedicated to the students, their educators, and their loved ones. It is a chance to commemorate the closing of a significant chapter in the students’ lives and the opening of another. For all of these reasons, a graduation ceremony deserves an elevated standard of dignity, decorum, and mission discipline.
I respect the rights of political activists to exercise their freedom of speech and peaceful protest. However, I do NOT respect them for disrupting this solemn and happy occasion, especially since it happens only once in a typical university student’s lifetime. Families and friends make all types of sacrifices to attend this one ceremony. They take time off from their jobs, travel for hours to a different city, and pay hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars for their accommodations. When you disrupt a graduation ceremony, you are disrespecting all of these people - the students and their loved ones.
Furthermore, these student activists are displaying the very qualities that employers actively avoid when hiring workers. If this is how these students behave in their own graduation ceremonies, how will they control their emotions in the workplace? Will they throw tantrums, disrupt meetings, and approach conflicts with hyperbolic demands? These are valid questions that hiring managers will have upon witnessing such immaturity. Hundreds (maybe even thousands) of people attend these graduation ceremonies, some of whom may be your future employers. Nowadays, these ceremonies are often livestreamed or recorded for posterity - so your disorderly conduct will live on forever on the Internet.
If you are a university student who feels strongly about a political issue, then write letters to the appropriate authorities, attend their town-hall meetings to address your concerns in civil discourse, and vote for your preferred candidates at your next election. These are proper channels for you to constructively articulate your concerns to decision-makers in a university or democracy. However, a graduation ceremony is not one of them; don’t ruin it for the people who just want to celebrate their achievements and thank the people who helped them along the way.