Academic Congregations - Northumbria University

Last week I attended three congregations for the admission to degrees at Northumbria University. I have a few reflections which I managed to get down to writing up today.

This was the first time they had been held in the newly-opened Sport Central. This is essentially a sports' centre and the congregation was held in the main hall with the guests on the banked seating around three sides, the graduands in blocks in the middle facing a platform on the fourth wall. It was a typical 'call the name, walk across stage, shake hands' kind of ceremony. It was preceded (as people were taking their places) by extended promo videos on the two large screens set either side of the platform. The promotional films were well made and upbeat about the student experience and the benefits of a studying at Northumbria University. There was a brass band whose main function was to provide processional and recessional music. There was in the programme, and announced at the start, a request for there to be no clapping of individual graduands and no calling out or whistling. With regard to the former, every so often (every 20 or so graduands or at a change of subject area) there was an announced pause for applause. In some cases families or other well-wishers simply 'couldn't help themselves' and called or whistled a few particular candidates. This was particularly so towards the latter end of the longer of the congregations. I suspect a kind of boredom coupled with a sense that others got away with it emboldened people.

The ceremony opened and closed with formal announcements by the MC of the fact. The VC made a 5-10 min speech which I wondered whether it needed to have so much about the university as the pre-ceremony promotional videos had already kind of covered that ground. One of the things I find myself reflecting on most from the speech is that he mentioned that the intstitutiton that became the university was founded by "a Victorian philanthropist". I've been looking into the history of the Uni a bit and know that Rutherford was in fact not just a Victorian philanthropist but one who was motivated by his Christian faith and was able to mobilise the support among other support of his own Congregationalist Church in Bath Lane of which he was the minister. Admittedly Rutherford's vision was a non-sectarian (ie without religious tests or particularities) education, but I think that to elide the religious dimension altogether is perhaps significant and the possibility of reminding us of the Christian (Socialist) basis (albeit one which was 'non-Christendom') of the precursor institutions might be helpful in terms of handling religious diversity today by asserting that there is a place for a hospitable, co-operative, seeking-the-common-good kind of religious faith.

One of the other things I found myself reflecting on was the ceremonial use of space. It seemed that really what they'd tried to do was to recreate the kind of proscenium arch kind of experience much used in school halls, university halls where the space has been designed with a stage for theatrical experiences as well as to allow the platform party at assemblies and the like to see over the heads of others and to be seen by most of the assembled masses. This layout then dictates the form of ceremony.

The thing to note, though, is that if the space changes then new possibilities arise and old formats don't need to be followed. So there was a feel that the space was fighting the ceremony: the space is designed with sporting events such as basketball (Newcastle Eagles play there) in mind. In such a space everyone sees not because the spectacle is raised above their heads or to eye-level but because the seating is banked to look down on the central space where the action takes place. Arena not stage.

So I started to wonder whether there might be a more in-the-round, arena-style way to do the ceremony with the central point being for the central action and things being arranged concentrically around that. I take it that the main action is the handshake which represents being admitted to the degree (note not being /given/ a degree -though I saw graduands being given beribboned scrolls as the began their walk across stage, I took this to be a dummy rather than the actual degree certificate): the handshake is one of fellowship from a representative of the university and the action is performative; bringing the graduand into the fellowship of graduates of the university; a change of status is conferred. Thus the walk is from being an undergraduate to being a graduate: one enters the stage (or arena) un-degreed and leaves degreed; the performative point is the handshake. This might suggest, too, that they be handed the symbolic scroll as they leave the liminal space.

It would open up possibilities for ceremonial to attempt to use rather than fight the arena layout. Possibilities such as having the 'platform party' (consisting of representatives of the university senior management and governance and the school whose degrees are being awarded in that congregation) gathered around the central point of action (perhaps a quartered circle with four entrance and exit points). The screen could then be used better as ways to convey action from different vantage points to the guests (I did appreciate the use of two camera angles and screening the names of each graduand as they went across the platform, this capability could be extended and come into its own in the arena schema). It might be possible to consider assembling the graduands (given the extra space afforded by the venue) behind the guests and for them to come into the central arena space and perhaps be seated, having been admitted to their degrees, in the central area. Then at the end they could all be invited to stand and to turn to face the guests and be applauded and cheered, perhaps even to bow and wave, throw their hats in the air or whatever.

The band was interesting: they played nicely and suitable sorts of music (Handel, for example). However after they had played the processional piece they left the arena, and returned shortly before the end. This was a little distracting. I would guess that having them sit through an hour or more of naming-handshaking-clapping might be the reason to let them go, but I do wonder whether a less obtrusive way of deploying them could be found.

I also wondered whether having an obvious gathering of a cohort who would then be standing together to be clapped would help with the intrusive clapping/cheering/whooping that happened from time to time. I must admit the constant ripple of applause for every candidate that I have usually experienced is helpful in this but it is wearing, particularly when you come to the last quarter or so. So I applaud Northumbria Uni for trying to deal with that -I was really pleased when I saw in on the programme.

I was also interested to see the processional objects: a mace (of sorts -more a squared silver club than the spiky object that I usually associate with the term 'mace') and a sword (which I'm told has "Newcastle Polytechnic" written on it. I was interested because they are such martial objects which is rather at odds with the equality and diversity ethos of the institution. I found myself wondering whether it would be better to get an suitably artistic member of the university to design a way to turn the sword and mace into a figurative or perhaps literal ploughshare.

Academic Congregations - Northumbria University, Newcastle UK