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This time of year, ceremonies across the United States honormillions of students for completing their schoolwork. I’m SteveEmber with Phoebe Zimmermann. We tell about some graduationtraditions and speeches in our report this week on the VOA SpecialEnglish program, THIS IS AMERICA.
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Spring and early summer are usually satisfying times for studentswho have completed the requirements of their schools. American highschools, colleges and universities hold ceremonies to honor thesegraduates. A school group often sings or plays at these events.Other musicians may also perform. School organization leaders andexcellent students are recognized with awards. Clergy memberssometimes lead opening and closing prayers. Many graduating classespresent a gift to the school. Sometimes the students write a classsong.
For most students, the mostimportant part of the ceremony is the awarding of documents showingthat they have graduated. The school’s directors and teacherspresent these diplomas or degrees.
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Many traditions are linked to graduation. Graduates often wearspecial clothing including hats called mortarboards. These hats havea flat, square top covered with cloth. At some schools, studentswrite on the hats.
Some write the year of their graduation. Others write their ownnames or the names of boyfriends or girlfriends. Still others writefunny sayings or the names of rock and roll groups they like. Somestudents draw pictures or paint on their hats. At many colleges anduniversities, graduates throw the mortarboards in the air after theceremonies. Guests then can take home a hat if they like.
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Many high schools and colleges publish a yearbook. This bookcontains photos of the class members and memories of their schoolyears. Students write good wishes in each other’s yearbooks.
Families honor their graduating members with gifts. They takepictures at the ceremonies. They attend special meals prepared forthe graduates and their guests. At some colleges and universities,the graduates march to the center where the ceremonies will be held.
Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, holds a huge suchprocession. Late last month, more than six-thousand graduates,teachers, parents and other guests marched down the school’s CollegeHill. Musicians played bagpipes and drums as they walked to theschool’s commencement exercises.
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Another tradition at Brown is the presentation of honorarydegrees. Most other American colleges also do this. They awarddegrees to people who have done excellent work in the arts, publicservice or science. Among those honored at Brown this year wereactress and Brown graduate Laura Linney and Chinese dissident XuWenli.
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Large universities sometimes divide students into groups toreceive their degrees. For example, one ceremony may be held forstudents who mainly studied biology. Another may be held forstudents whose major study area was music.
The awarding of college degrees is an especially exciting momentfor the graduates. At many schools they walk across a stage — araised structure — to receive their degrees. Family members andfriends shout as each name is read. An orchestra plays traditionalgraduation music.
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Many American colleges invite someone well known to give the maincommencement address, or speech. The schools invite governmentofficials, including presidents of the United States. They invitescientists, actors, musicians, and artists. They invite educatorsand business leaders.
Some schools invite foreign officials or religious leaders totalk to their graduates. For example, the Aga Khan has spokenseveral times at major American universities. He is the spiritualleader of millions of Shiite Ismaili Muslims.
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Over the years, American presidents have sometimes made historywhile giving graduation addresses. In nineteen-sixty three, JohnKennedy spoke at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Greattension existed between the United States and the former SovietUnion at the time.
President Kennedy noted that the two sides were producing manyweapons. America’s thirty-fifth president said there was a betterway to spend money. He said it could be used to fight poor livingconditions, disease and lack of education.
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Later that year, Mister Kennedy was murdered. His vice president,Lyndon Johnson, followed him in office. President Johnson spoke tograduates of the University of Michigan in nineteen-sixty four.During his speech, historians say, he used the expression “GreatSociety” for the first time in public. This name later was given tosocial reform programs that his government established.
This year, President Bush made a major policy proposal when hespoke to graduates of the University of South Carolina in Columbia,South Carolina. He suggested a free trade area in the Middle East.
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Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont is a member of the oppositionDemocratic Party. He spoke at Norwich University in Northfield,Vermont. The school is the oldest private military college in theUnited States. It also serves civilian students.
In his address, Senator Leahy expressed satisfaction thatAmerican-led military forces had freed the Iraqi people from adictator. But he also said nations with powerful militaries have, inhis words, “time and again, made tragic mistakes that led to theirdownfall.”
Former Secretary of State James Baker also commented on themilitary. He praised United States forces for their performance inthe recent war in Iraq. He spoke at graduation ceremonies at TexasA-and-M University in College Station, Texas.
Mister Baker served as thenation’s top diplomat during the administration of President RonaldReagan. As such, he helped organize the military coalition thatdefeated Iraq in the nineteen-ninety-one Persian Gulf War.
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Other speakers offered graduates personal advice. Writer AntwoneFisher spoke at Cleveland State University in Cleveland, Ohio.Mister Fisher urged his listeners to write about their lives andthoughts. He said they should do this even if they shared thewriting only with family. He said, “You can make yourself liveforever through writing.”
Former Senator George Mitchell spoke at Susquehanna University inSelinsgrove, Pennsylvania. Mister Mitchell won international praiseafter he negotiated a peace agreement in Northern Ireland innineteen-ninety-eight. He advised graduates to work hard to helpothers. George Mitchell said he hoped that they could find avaluable goal.
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Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson spoke atthe University of Wisconsin in Eu Claire. Mister Thompson toldgraduates that some of their plans would fail and some of theirideas would be wrong. But he said they needed only a few simplethings to lead a good life: “A sound mind. A strong body. A lovingheart … “
Graduates of New York University in New York City heard anaddress by their president, John Sexton. He commented on the longhistory of higher education. Mister Sexton said eighty-five humanorganizations have existed continually for more than five-hundredyears. Seventy of these institutions, he said, were universities.
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Graduation marks an end to an important time in a student’s life.But the event also marks a beginning.
Many graduates of American high schools and colleges willcontinue their education. Others will begin their working lives. Asone former student said, “I worked hard in school. Now I am ready tofind out what the rest of the world is like.”
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This VOA Special English program was written by Jerilyn Watson.It was produced by Caty Weaver. I’m Phoebe Zimmermann.
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And I’m Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another reportabout life in the United States on the VOA Special English program,THIS IS AMERICA.