Affinity-Based Stole Ceremonies Matter

By Dorothy Villarreal

Last year, a big hubbub was made over Harvard’s Black Graduation.  So much criticism occurred over the mistaken impression that Harvard was hosting a “segregated” ceremony.  They couldn’t have been more mistaken.  Affinity-based ceremonies are affirming and serve to make space for the students that are often left behind throughout the school year. Furthermore, these ceremonies are notdegree-conferring ceremonies; most ceremonies give students a stole or a chord that they then wear to the actual Commencement (with all of the university). A popular claim against affinity-based stole ceremonies is that they cause segregation, when in fact, they do nothing of the sort. The ceremonies are an opportunity for students to celebrate not only each other, but their families and those that helped them across the stage. Universities tout the benefits of having a diverse student body, and supporting affinity-based ceremonies is an important step that universities need to take to affirm their commitment to their student body. 

In my senior year of college, Latinx students from across the university came together to organize the first Latinx Graduation.  For us, graduation was not a time to celebrate ourselves—it was an opportunity to celebrate and highlight our families.  Our ceremony would be a space where our families would feel welcome, and honored.  While the undergraduate students had a long history of organizing a last-minute cocktail party for the graduating seniors and their families, the organizers of the conference imagined a venue with keynote speakers, good food, a stage, and most importantly, a ceremony that invited parents to walk across the stage with their student. 

Receiving my college diploma paled in comparison to walking hand-in-hand with my mom across the stage (much like when we first got to the states and she walked me into school) and her placing my Latinx Stole across my shoulders. I cried like I never had before. Most of the other students did, too. While all graduations are something to be celebrated, this event felt special to us.  It felt like we were making history, leaving our mark on a place that often rejects our very being.  At many convocations and admissions panels, you’ll hear heads of institutions wax poetically on the importance of higher education and its commitment to diversity. Still, history tells us otherwise. Most Institutions of higher learning (with exception of historically Minority Serving Institutions), especially those coded as “elite” only relatively recently began to recruit and retain students of color.  For Latinx students in particular, our understanding of our history in higher education is sorely lacking and incomplete. 

To begin with, there isn’t much historical information on Latinxs in higher education, not to mention within the Ivy Leagues.  As an undergrad at Harvard, I remembered scouring through dusty volumes trying to find last names that sounded or looked remotely like mine. Even now, a quick search through Google Scholar returns few relevant links discussing the history of Latinx in higher education. The lack of study in this area points to further reasons why affinity-based graduation celebrations are important and necessary. 

In institutions that have historically excluded and disenfranchised the communities around them, it is paramount that they actively work to ensure that the students they recruit to campuses are fully celebrated and honored.  Affinity-based celebration ceremonies are another way to affirm students’ successes. Let me reiterate that affinity-based celebrations in no way replace traditional commencement exercises. Instead, they are a beautiful, necessary addition to the commencement traditions; a reflection of the growth and changes in higher education.