The University of
Delaware added a new twist to its tradition-rich Doctoral Hooding
Ceremony on Thursday, May 25, celebrating the more than 350 students who
have earned their doctorates in the past year by raising a celebratory
toast.
Almost 250 were in the house — the Bob Carpenter Center, that is —
for the 2023 event, and an estimated 8,000 family, friends, mentors and
colleagues were there for it, too, bearing witness to the network of
support and connection this kind of endeavor requires.
Escorted by bagpipers Mark Hurm and Russell Johnstone, UD officials
and deans led the procession into the arena, with the graduates and
their mentors following. Teddy Austin, master of music in voice
performance, then opened the ceremony with a stirring rendition of the
national anthem.
While many convocations and graduations and celebrations mark the end
of an academic year, the doctoral hooding marks a unique achievement.
The doctorate, academia’s highest degree, is evidence that a student
has broken new ground and created new knowledge in their field of
expertise. They have found new evidence, created a new substance, seen
or experienced something no one had seen or experienced before.
“You added a piece to this giant puzzle of continuous discovery that
we are all trying to solve,” UD President Dennis Assanis said. “In
research and scholarship, we often only have theories about how those
pieces might fit together, and we’re constantly revising those ideas.
Still, every piece you contribute helps to bring that big picture a
little more into focus.
“This is true whether you work in basic or applied research, whether
you work in the arts, the humanities, business or the sciences, whether
you work in a lab or a classroom or the community, whether you remain in
academia or whether you pursue a career in the private, government or
nonprofit sectors.”