Schedule - Quick View
Click here for a full schedule of events (pdf)
Commencement Speaker: Suzanne D. Patrick ’77 ( press release ) (transcript)
Traditions : Daisy Chain , Graduation Squires
Parking information
The city police will enforce parking regulations on the streets surrounding the College throughout the weekend, so guests are reminded to observe all parking signs. Parking areas on campus will be marked, and security officers will be available to provide directions. For the Commencement ceremony, a van shuttle will run constantly from the various parking areas on campus to the Bell parking lot, the area adjacent to The Dell. The Dell is steep, and everyone is advised to wear comfortable and appropriate shoes.
Assistance for those with disabilities
For the Commencement ceremony, vans for those who cannot walk down into The Dell will leave from the Main Hall front porch between 7:45 A.M. and 9:45 A.M. The van will also pick up passengers at the far north end of the Bell Parking Lot. Special seating will be provided for those unable to walk down to The Dell. Guests with disabilities may also choose to watch the ceremony from the Pines House located at the top of The Dell. Advance registration is not required to ride the shuttle or to sit in the special seating area.
Cameras and video equipment
Use of cameras and video equipment during Commencement is permitted in the designated areas.
Pagers and cell phones
During the Commencement ceremony, all pagers and cell phones should be turned off.
Professional photographs
Professional photographers will be taking a photo of each graduate as she receives her diploma. Approximately two weeks after Commencement, each graduate will receive a copy of her photograph in the mail with information about how to purchase photos.
Commencement video
Order forms for the Commencement video will be available in an envelope on the Commencement bulletin boards in the Main and Webb Hall lobbies for those who would like to purchase a video but did not place an order in advance.
Rehearsal and lineup
It is important for graduates to BE ON TIME for Daisy Chain and Commencement rehearsal and lineup. Instructions for graduates and seniors' squires will be posted on the Commencement bulletin boards in the Main and Webb Hall lobbies and will be handed out at Commencement rehearsal as well.
Suzanne Patrick ’77 is the principal and founder of Suzanne D. Patrick & Company, which provides investment banking, technology search, and industrial and strategy consulting services to large corporate and government clients. She has nearly 30 years of senior level experience in global defense, finance, and intelligence in military, government, and Wall Street Settings.
Ms. Patrick served as Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Industrial Policy from 2001-2005. She was on Wall Street from 1987-1999 as an aerospace analyst and a specialist in east European markets. In 1997, she founded the New Poland Eagle hedge fund with George Soros’s Quantum Fund as the major investor. Ms. Patrick’s early career was as a program manager with the U.S. Navy.
Ms. Patrick’s undergraduate degree from R-MWC is in European Studies. She holds the M.A. degree in National Security Studies from Georgetown University. She was named Washington Woman of the Year in 1986 and R-MWC Alumnae Achievement Award winner in 2002. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Scientific Communication and National Security. She speaks fluent German and French and conversational Hungarian and Spanish.
Suzanne Patrick was nominated by senior Alex Bojarska.
Daisy Chain has been a colorful graduation event since the early 1900s. On the Saturday of Commencement Weekend, Sophomores carry the long daisy chain, which they made earlier in the day, across front campus on their shoulders to the steps of Martin, where they transfer the daisy chain from their shoulders to those of the Seniors, their sister class.
It is tradition for each Senior to select a graduation squire who will march with the Senior and sit directly behind her or him during Commencement. At the designated moment during the Commencement ceremony, the squire will ceremoniously place the Randolph College baccalaureate hood around the Senior’s collar.
Originally the squires were Sophomores; but once Sophomores were no longer required to stay for Commencement, Seniors began to choose family members as their squires. Although most Seniors choose fathers, mothers, husbands, grandparents, alumnae relatives, or siblings to act as their squire, some Seniors choose a person who is not a relative but someone with whom the Senior wants to share this very special occasion.
Please note that each Senior is limited to one squire. Seniors may choose not to have a squire, in which case they will “hood” themselves. If a squire would have difficulty walking down into The Dell from the Pines area, she or he will simply ride the van from Main Hall front porch into The Dell and join the processional as it enters The Dell, both for rehearsal and the actual ceremony.
