Printer FriendlyFrom the time commencement exercises begin to the time they are adjourned, the ceremony of graduation is tradition bound and fixed. The form for the presentation of degree candidates and the conferring of degrees is formulaic. The respective deans introduce and vouch for degree candidates who have been recommended by the faculties, the chancellor recommends endorsed candidates to the chairperson of the board of trustees, and the chairperson confers each degree according to prescribed form, the words of which are repeated exactly for each degree conferred: "By authority vested in me by the Higher Education Coordinating Council and the Board of Trustees of the University of Massachusetts, I hereby confer on you the degree of ________ with all the rights and privileges thereunto pertaining." In a very real sense, tradition dictates that if you have seen one commencement, you have seen them all.