The Manfred Mann song came to mind as I went down past the Lanyon Building one day last week at lunchtime on an errand. The hundreds of graduands, and wives and girlfriends thereof, stalking across the lawns and pavements in their 10 centimetre heels (I’m a bit of SI unit man myself) in their multicoloured best – while the men marched around awkwardly in the suits they hope will impress at those first interviews.
BY THE AULD WAN
It was such a contrast to my own graduation day when those who wished to attend were issued with a dress code - dark suits and collar and tie for men, white blouses and black skirts for the ladies. Non-conformists would not be admitted. I bent the code as far as I dared without knocking a hole in the family’s day out and wore a lilac shirt under a mid-grey bird’s eye check three piece. Seemed trendy at the time – now just looks naff in the few photos that were taken with my camera. I didn’t bother with the studio rip-off version.
Another change today is the absence of ‘the national anthem’ at the start – for good reasons I believe, not least because it begs the question of ‘Which nation?’ In my case it saved my bacon as I overslept and was running down the Malone Road throwing on my gown at 10.57. A tolerant member of the admin staff whom I knew let me slip quickly into my seat while everyone was on their feet for what must be the worst musical dirge of any civilised country. (Think Marseillaise and Nkosi Sikelele Africa for contrast).
On Thursday of graduation week – the last day for which I have figures – 938 people were conferred with their degrees and other awards; 47 of them didn’t come. For reasons that I can’t fathom three quarters of the absentees were nursing and midwifery graduands and nobody from St Mary’s University College missed out.
About a third of my graduation class didn’t bother – the aforesaid dress code being too much for the hippie generation to which I belong. Much has been made recently in the pages (screens?) of The Gown about the proposed graduation charge of £55 and the impact that it will have on attendance. I’m betting it will pale into near invisibility against the cost of the Jimmy Choos and the Coast dresses – and the men will just do what they are told, as always.
Come on you flamingos!