Commencement

Fair Harvard

Fair Harvard! we join in thy Jubilee throng,

And with blessings surrender thee o'er

By these Festival-rites, from the Age that is past,

To the Age that is waiting before.

O Relic and Type of our ancestors' worth,

That hast long kept their memory warm,

First flow'r of their wilderness! Star of their night!

Calm rising thro' change and thro' storm.

Farewell! be thy destinies onward and bright!

To thy children the lesson still give,

With freedom to think, and with patience to bear,

And for Right ever bravely to live.

Let not moss-covered Error moor thee at its side,

As the world on Truth's current glides by,

Be the herald of Light, and the bearer of Love,

Till the stock of the Puritans die.

Samuel Gilman, Class of 1811

[Revised 1998]

Commencement Morning Exercises
Thursday, June 5, 2003

Welcome to the 352nd Harvard Commencement. Although Harvard's first Commencement in 1642 is more than 360 years behind us, Commencement numbering progressively has fallen more and more out of step as exercises were omitted for reasons ranging from war to plague. The cumulative effect is that 2003, for example, marks only the 352nd Harvard Commencement.

Commencement at Harvard is comprised of three components: the ceremonial Morning Exercises, during which University degrees are conferred; the mid-day luncheons and diploma-awarding ceremonies at the undergraduate Houses, graduate, and professional Schools; and the afternoon Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association, during which Harvard’s president and the Commencement speaker deliver their addresses.

The Morning Exercises, which convene in the outdoor Tercentenary Theatre, are attended by approximately 32,000 degree candidates, family members, faculty, alumni, and guests. Because of limited seating capacity this is a ticketed event, and those without a ticket will not be admitted. Note: A ticket allows admission to Tercentenary Theatre, but does not guarantee a seat. The sale of Commencement tickets is prohibited.