graduation cards

Graduation cards given to my husband during the 1970s

      Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become graduates. Before the graduation, candidates are referred to as graduands. The date of graduation is often called graduation day. The graduation itself is also called commencement, convocation or invocation, though in some cases inaccurately.

      At the University of Cambridge, the occasion on which most graduands receive their BA degree is known as general admission. After degree completion, graduates can be referred to by their graduating year. In the United States and Canada, the term is additionally increasingly being used to refer to the advancement from a primary or secondary school level. When ceremonies are associated, they usually include a procession of the academic staff and candidates. At the college and university level the faculty will usually wear academic dress at the formal ceremonies, as will the trustees and degree candidates.

      "Graduation" at the college and university level occurs when the presiding officer confers degrees upon candidates, either individually or in mass even if graduates physically receive their diploma later at a smaller college or departmental ceremony. 

      Many families and friends of graduates often send cards, letters and money gifts to recognize this honorary occasion. Some families even celebrate the graduation of their child from one grade to the next with a party.

• The stories behind graduation traditions
• Nine graduation traditions you didn't know existed
• Some unusual customs at Wheaton College

graduation card samples from 1970 something