Jennifer's Graduation (R-M WC)

My family treasures one thing above all else: Education. It's the one thing that you can have that nobody can take away from you. Consequently, when a family member graduates, it's a major event for all Fischers. This latest graduation weekend was especially important because we had TWO graduations happening at the same time.

Upon arriving in Lynchburgh, VA, we decided to have a private ceremony to celebrate the graduation of my mother from her Ph.D program at the University of Houston. She got her Ph.D. in English Literature, but she didn't want her graduation to over-shadow her daughter's so she decided to forego her own official ceremonies and come to Lynchburgh. (Awwwwww!)

Well, we couldn't let that happen without doing something to publicly embarrass my mother, so we came up with a plan...

I ordered a complete graduation gown from the University of Houston book store and had it shipped up to my apartment for transport to Virginia. Meanwhile, my father co-ordinated between the two schools (U of H and R-M WC) to see if we could integrate my mother's graduation in the ceremonies held that weekend. As it turned out, the president of my sister's institution agreed to mention Mom's accomplishments in her remarks to the graduates. All was set and mother was clueless about our plan... * evil laugh *

	After visiting with my sister and her hall mates, we went out to dinner together and a nice steak house in Lynchburgh. After which, we headed back to our hotel where we innocently had drinks to celebrate "Jennifer's" graduation. This shot (left) was taken shortly after we were seated. I had the gown in a box by my seat.
After the drinks arrived, my dad starting reading a speech to commemorate my mother's accomplishments. In his speech he made a slight error with the name of the woman whose work my mother had analyzed. We're laughing at that in the picture to the right. After dad completed his speech, we dressed mom in her graduation gown and watched her turn all shades of red and get all teary-eyed. (The full text of the speech is shown below.)
Friends and Family: We are here assembled to honor one of our own. Being ever the idealist she is, forgoing her own commencement exercises in favor of attending her daughter's could easily be construed by those who aren't as familiar with her as we as a consummate act of selflessness. We, however, know it to be a misguided attempt to avoid being embarrassed at the hands of her family. Especially in front of others who regard her well because of her notable academic achievement. To that we say, "nice try." We who know and love her (we don't understand her, but we love her) want to take this occasion to muse briefly on her accomplishment. To earn the Ph.D. is no small matter. Her arduous years of toil toward it have resulted in a dissertation magnanimous in its scope and breathtaking in its profundity. Although its exact title eludes even her, it concerns itself with Harriet Beecher Stowe's insights into 19th century Catholicism. According to her committee, it contains penetrating analysis and defining interpretation of Stowe's summative insight, "When having Victorian Catholics over for tea, start with a shot of Jack Daniels. . . it makes them much easier to deal with." Motivationally, we her family are convinced that her single-minded, tenacious pursuit of this most prestigious degree is probably attributable and a reaction to a particularly dim-witted husband who never did get the hang of Beowulf, and three children who continue to caution each other, "If mom ever says, 'you expect me to believe that? Do I look stupid to you?' Don't answer." Someone, she surely feels, has to make up for this lot! And so, in lieu of her much deserved and hard won recognition at the hands of her alma mater, we are privileged to carry its proxy. Her dissertation chairperson, Dr. Dorothy Baker, by verbal assent, sends her greetings and salutations to all here present and it is by her authority and assent that we now ask Beverly, also known as Mom, to rise. Accept this robe as a symbol of the mantle of excellence you carry so easily on behalf of this family; don this hood as the symbol of your grace, refinement, and knowledge acquired quietly and without fanfare while all the while making us feel like we were your only concern. We "cap" this off by saying that we are proud of you, we all, each and every one of us, stand in genuine awe of both you and your accomplishments, and lastly we love you. Congratulations!
	Mom toasts the camera as we celebrate her graduation and talk about how glad she is to be done with it. Apparently, her dissertation brought very high praise from her committee members and she is going to have it published. We are all very proud of her! Way to go, Mom! We hung out in the hotel bar that night and then we all finally went to bed to get a good night's rest.

Induction into Phi Beta Kappa

The next day, we surprised out two graduates with flowers (shown on the left). This morning, my sister is to be inducted into the oldest honor society in the U.S. - Phi Beta Kappa. She even had to learn a new "secret" handshake. No...I'm not going to tell you what it is. Jen is pictured to the right with her certificate of membership.

The Daisy Chain

One very interesting fact about my sister that I learned during this trip is that she know when to be dignified and when to just cut loose. As you can see by her attire in the picture to the left, she knows how to joke around and be light-hearted. Personally, I think she has an strange attraction to poultry, but hey...I still love her. ;-) This Daisy Chain event is one of many strange and bewildering events held by this all-female college. This is something that I think is unique to this university, but I'm not sure...so let me explain what I understand about it:
The History of the Daisy Chain Apparently, R-MWC pairs off the classes according to the year they graduate. The odd-numbered classes are paired together as are the even-numbered classes. My sister happens to belong to the odd-numbered graduation group. I'm not really sure why the school feels it necessary to create additional factions between the groups of students, but this is apparently a tradition. So here's the basic scheme of this event. The Sophomores carry a rope laden with daisy flowers down to the awaiting seniors who are gathered in front of a building on campus. The grads are in their academic attire, save for a goofy hat that they select sometime during their stay at R-MWC.
As they carry the rope down the hill towards the awaiting seniors, the sophomores (pictured to the right) sing songs. The musical dialogue continues until the sophomores have woven their way between the rows of awaiting seniors.
	Here is a picture of the seniors as they way the big hand-off. Notice the wide array of sassy and silly hats. My sister is circled in red. On their graduation scarf, the seniors wear buttons that have been collected throughout the year.
After the hand-off of the daisy chain, the seniors carry it back up the hill (pictured to the right) where they proceed to wrap it around the sun dial that sits in the courtyard. Quite honestly...I find this to be a most puzzling tradition. However, the story must continue...
Finally, the daisy chain is deposited around the sun dial. the entire thing is engulfed by the daisy chain. Immediately following this, the seniors give away as many buttons as possible to the sophomores. A good time is had by all. Cheers are heard throughout the land. I managed to take this picture before they removed it from the sun dial.

Commencement

The commencement ceremony was held in the "Dell" which is this nice outdoor ampitheatre. It was a beautiful day. The weather was simply perfect! The graduates marched into the stage area with their Squires (people selected to put the hoods on the graduates when directed). In this picture to the left, my mother is my sister's squire. You can almost see the giddiness on Jen's face!

During the ceremony, the president of the school mentioned that my mother had forgone her own graduation to attend her daughters. The entire crowd reacted with "Aww!" and "Isn't that sweet?" as well as other comments. My mother was wiping tears from her eyes when my sister turned around to smile at her. It was just perfect!

These are pictures of my sister with two members of the faculty (left). We also took a picture of her with some of her friends (right). It was most chaotic and we could only get so many pictures before we went out with some friend to have lunch.

After the ceremony, we took pictures of the graduates in their robes. We wanted to make sure to get them just one more time so we could capture the school colors on their hoods and all. Don't they even LOOK smart?!? I am glad that I come from such good genes. :-) (You too, Dad!) Special Thanks We (my family) would like to extend our special thanks to the president of the college for all of her support and co-operation. It made a special day for us even better than we anticipated. I'd also like to mention that there are a lot of friends and faculty whose pictures we could not get taken because of time constraints. However, I'd like to express our gratitude to them for their support and companionship. My sister is a VERY different woman than the little girl I knew only four years ago and I wanted to be sure that everyone connected with her success knows how much I, for one, appreciate them. A special thanks goes out to Jen's friends who we met and chatted with during our stay. You ladies (and Sandy - Jen's friend from one of the local frats) are fantastic and it was a pleasure finally meeting you and putting a face to all of the names. Message to the Graduates My dear sister...I've never been more proud and I look forward to your continued achievements in your graduate program. I also look forward to getting to know you again. I know you don't always agree with me, but you've changed quite a bit and I can't just think of you as my sister any more-- You're a mature, independent, intellectual, and wonderfully strange woman now and look forward to seeing how you've changed. Dr. Mom...it's about time! :-) Seriously, though, I'm glad to see that you have not only attained your Ph.D., but you've managed to stun everyone with your brilliance while doing it! You do excellent work and I admire your discipline and tenacity. I look forward to receiving my signed copy of your published dissertation. Yes...I will read it...I promise! I love you both! --Glenn