This January, returning students won’t be attending the biannual matriculation service.
Milligan’s policy regarding spring and fall matriculations changed as the result of a committee that studied the effectiveness of the ceremony following the August 2002 matriculation. The decision was made in September by a committee made of members of administration and student marshals.
“The reaction of the students [to matriculation] has been, what I would call, inappropriate. I am frankly disappointed that it had to come to this,” said Mark Matson, academic dean and assistant professor of Bible. “There is no easy way to fix it, so we’ll just change it.”
Undergraduate students lost interest and saw it as a requirement for their public programs curriculum.
The January 2003 service is cancelled. Incoming undergraduate students will sign in the college’s register during the August ceremony.
However, under the new policy, once a student matriculates, no further attendance at ceremonies will be required.
The college will sponsor the fall 2003 matriculation ceremony on Saturday evening of the freshman orientation weekend.in August. Families of new students will be able to share in the historic ceremony.
Although returning students will not be required to attend, their presence is still welcome. Faculty members and administration will join the matriculating class in the ceremony.
After review, the consensus was made that the ceremony loses some of it luster and uniqueness when held twice per year, according to Carmen Allen, administrative assistant for academic affairs.
“I personally recommended canceling the spring semester’s matriculation,” said David Harris, senior class president and a student marshal for matriculation who participated in the committee. “Only having it once a year would make it less routine, students would participate more and [would be] less likely to rebel.”
Matson cited excessive applause of matriculating faculty members as “over the top.”
Matson accepted the position of Academic Dean in 1999. He changed the ceremony from the normal chapel time to a weekday evening during the first week of classes in August 2000.
His goal was to include the masters of education, masters of occupational therapy and adult degree completion program students who would be unable to attend the morning ceremony due to work obligations.
However, most graduate students were unable to attend the evening ceremony and thus, unable to participate in matriculation.
Starting in January, each new class in the master’s programs will hold its own matriculation ceremony with Jeanes, Matson and program faculty members present.
“We are one campus, we are one college, we are the community of Milligan,” was Matson’s vision for the evening ceremony that will now be replaced.
His goal was for the entire Milligan community to gather in the same room for the matriculation ceremony each year.