Commencement trivia and more
Estimated number of graduates, 2008*
*Includes May graduates only; Does not include Dec. and Aug. 2007 graduates. |
| 944 |
Undergraduates |
| 150 |
Graduate School (both campuses) |
| 165 |
School of Law |
| 96 |
Babcock Graduate School of Management |
| 30 |
Divinity School |
| 103 |
School of Medicine (including Physician Assistant Studies) |
| 4 |
Number of graduates in first graduating class, 1839 |
| 1 |
Number of graduates in 1843 |
| 1964 |
First black graduate, Edward Reynolds |
| 20 |
Number of graduates in the Divinity School's first graduating class, 2002 |
| Honorary degrees |
| 6 |
Number of honorary degrees awarded this year |
| 11 |
Number of honorary degrees awarded in 1934, the most ever |
| 1849 |
Year first honorary degree was awarded, to Wake Forest founder and first president Samuel Wait |
| 12,000 |
Number of chairs set up on Hearn Plaza |
| 50'x100' |
Size of striped tent |
| 48 |
Number of man-hours to set-up tent |
| 1989 |
Year a rain and wind-storm knocked down the tent the night before Commencement; the program proceeded on schedule, without a tent |
| 3 |
Number of times rain has forced Commencement inside (1991, 1983, 1973) |
| 1 |
Number of times Commencement has been held off campus (1991, Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum) |
| 1957 |
First Class to graduate on the "new" campus |
| 1966 |
First year Commencement was held on the Quad (from 1957 to 1965 Commencement was held in Wait Chapel) |
| 2.5 hours |
Approximate length of Commencement |
| 2 hours |
Length of Commencement speech delivered in 1858 by Solomon Satchwell |
|
| 10,000 |
Number of programs printed |
| 38 |
Consecutive years Sun Printing Company of Winston-Salem has printed the Commencement program |
|
| 8,500 |
Number of bottles of water distributed in 1993, when temperatures soared to the high 90s during the ceremony |
| 52 |
Temperature during the ceremony in 1999 (plus a cool, rainy mist) |
|
| 1987 |
Last class to graduate under the elms before the last of the diseased elm trees were removed and replaced with ash trees. |
| 1981 |
Last class to receive sheepskin diplomas |
| $40 |
Cost of an optional sheepskin diploma in 1982 |
|
| 1975 |
First woman and first black, U.S. Representative Barbara Jordan (D-Texas), to speak at Commencement |
| 2 |
Number of black women who have spoken at Commencement (Barbara Jordan, 1975, and Maya Angelou, 1985) |
| 2 |
Number of times Bill Moyers has given the Commencement address (1970 and 1984) |
— Kerry M. King ('85)
Office of Creative Services
Send this story to a friend »
