At the start of the fall semester, my university held a
convocation to formally welcome incoming freshmen and transfer students to the student
body. Students wore ceremonial gowns, and faculty wore the decorative gowns of
their alma maters. Parents of incoming students looked on with pride, and
applauded loudly when their student’s dean formally “presented” them to the
university president.
Although most students I observed seemed less than excited
to be at the early morning ceremony, rituals have a purpose. That’s why we have so many.
Rituals may provide a sense of connection with others, what
sociologist Emile
Durkheim called collective
consciousness, or shared values and norms. At the new student convocation,
the
students were taught the university’s motto (“Fight On!”), hand signs, the
school song (called an alma mater),
and encouraged to attend football games even if they were not football fans.
These rituals serve to induct new members to help them feel like part of a
community.
We have larger rituals too, like national holidays or days
of remembrance that serve to provide shared activities and mark milestones on
the calendar. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are about more than just honoring
parents; they also mark the passage into spring and summer. Likewise, Memorial
Day and Labor Day are technically days of appreciation for service members and
workers, but they have come to mark the unofficial start and end of summer.
Families and friends often come together and have cookouts, spend time at parks
and beaches if they are fortunate enough to have the day off from work.
Not all rituals are shared by an entire society: religious
holidays are typically only celebrated by the faithful (although non-religious
people sometimes enjoy Christmas, Hanukkah, and Easter ). Families and
individuals may have their own rituals for birthdays and other occasions that
may be rooted in their shared past.
Durkheim also explored how societies distinguish the sacred
from the profane; rituals help us do this as well.
Some groups perform rituals as a link to the past—many
people feel connected to their ancestors by carrying on religious traditions that
their forbearers once practiced. Some rituals might have had meaning once but
are now only meaningful as a link to the past. In her book, Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert undertakes a journey of
spiritual healing and learns a story of an old tradition of a group that would
always have an animal tied to a tree outside during their services. It had
taken on a sacred meaning, but originated when an animal just happened to be
tied to a tree during a service. There is comfort in the familiar.
Carrying on rituals may give group elders a sense of
purpose. Parents who had not been religious might find their way back to their
religious heritage in order to pass along beliefs to their children. Holidays
long ago abandoned might be celebrated again.
This applies to educational settings too. Returning students
might take on the role of elders for new students: advising on what classes to
take, informally teaching the social customs of a campus, and initiating new
members into fraternities and sororities. Even though they might not have
enjoyed being hazed as a freshman, it may feel like part of a senior’s “duty”
to carry on a group tradition.
Rituals help welcome new members and affirm the status of
continuing members. At the new student convocation I attended, the university’s
president, provost, and deans wore their ceremonial garb and their status as
leaders was reinforced. Parents—perhaps struggling with the reality that their
child is now an adult and a college student—got the chance to celebrate this
transition. And the ritual reaffirmed that new students who might have been
nervous are indeed a part of the community.
What other rituals are part of the educational experience?