Defending the traditions of Proclamation Night

Christine --

I have always highly valued opinions that challenge long-standing and established traditions that have come to be accepted as the norm.

I value them in the sense that, when something is challenged or questioned, the process of developing a sustainable defense forces one to really step back and look at the tradition and its continuing importance.

This analytical assessment, when the defense can be formulated, not only validates the existence of the tradition, but also strengthens the foundations of the tradition's significance and its contributions to its current context.

However, I am not able to extract any worth in empty criticism for criticism's sake as I find some of your "concerns" to be.

This being said, I have a few things to say in response to the statements you voiced regarding Proclamation Night. Before I address your specific concerns, I would just like to offer a caveat to keep in mind throughout your next two and a half years at the University of Richmond, a university which places high value on intellectual and social credibility.

Before offering up an opinion, issuing a statement, turning in a research paper, etc., especially one that will be featured in a published document to the entire school, make sure you have done your research and that the sources you use are reliable.

More importantly, when offering an opinion about something, it should be something with which you have firsthand experience or knowledge.

Having never attended Proclamation Night, I am surprised that you feel you have the qualifications to write such a detailed critique.

Keeping this in mind, I hope that if my response to your opinion teaches you nothing else, you at least walk away understanding the value of thorough research and being an informed member of the community. This being said, here it goes:

Concern No. 1: Why are the two ceremonies separated?

The answer to this one is pretty self-explanatory. At its foundation, Richmond was a coordinate college system made up of Westhampton College for women and Richmond College for men.

Both colleges, within the larger university community, play a significant role in enhancing the experience of their respective students.

This provides, among many other benefits, a supportive network of women or men with whom students can establish a unique identity and a loyal bond as they navigate four of some of the most challenging and influential years of their lives.

As a part of the unique experience provided by the coordinate college system, each has their own longstanding traditions that are continuously practiced to help to maintain this sense of identity and presence among the students.

The differentiation between Proclamation Night and Investiture is just one example of a tradition unique to each college.

In response to the other concern raised about the "tomboys, intersex individuals and the third, fourth and fifth genders?"

Well, what about them? They, just like any student, are able to participate in the ceremony if they so choose and are given the option to decide which ceremony they prefer.

As evidenced by your absence at Proclamation Night your freshman year, it is clearly a choice whether or not one wants to attend.

There is no rule forcing anyone to go and no rule excluding anyone from participating. Also, I am slightly surprised by your reference to the third, fourth and fifth genders.

For someone who seems so concerned with the idea of gender identity, I suggest you read Anne Fausto-Sterling's "The Five Sexes, Revisited."

Gender identity is not something you can quantify and lump into neatly defined categories. It is a fluid concept and one that is different for each person. I could go on and on about this but that is a whole different issue.

Concern No. 2: Definitions of Proclamation Night and Investiture

I have never attended Investiture nor am I well versed on the purpose behind the ceremony.

I, therefore, have no basis for making any inferences regarding the significance of its title. I do, however, know a little bit about Proclamation Night, having participated in it twice now.

If you do some research on the significance of the ceremony, you will find that rather than a night dedicated to "dressing up in white, taking a class picture and entering the campus chapel with a candle," Proclamation Night is principally dedicated to PROCLAIMING (officially and publicly declaring) one's membership in Westhampton College and one's commitment to the honor code as upheld by the university.

As cited directly from a website addressing campus traditions: "The Westhampton College Government Association, along with the first-year class and senior class, organizes this candlelight ceremony that officially recognizes first-year women as members of Westhampton College.

This ceremony highlights the importance of the Honor Code, and each first-year woman signs the pledge."

Concern No. 3: The letters

This is one of those moments when one has to step back and just appreciate tradition for tradition's sake.

It is useless to compare the specific practices that take place at each ceremony because they were developed at different times and for different purposes. Proclamation Night was developed under Dean May Keller well before the establishment of Investiture.

As I mentioned previously, while some of your concerns (although backed by little to no reliable support) are effective in that they cause one to step back and look at the tradition from an analytical point of view, this specific questioning of practices seems to be nothing more than an empty complaint.

Concern No. 4: The "strict" dress code

Similar to the issue of attending Proclamation Night, dress code is up to your discretion.

Sure, there is suggested attire (again, tradition for tradition's sake), but it is in no way strictly enforced.

I am really not sure as to where you are getting any of your information, but you are seriously mistaken on this issue.

There are no rules that state that you cannot be in the class picture if you don't wear white.

In fact, if you had taken the time to look at any Proclamation photos from the past two, three or four years, you would see that that is the case.

My own picture has multiple women not wearing white, and I would be hard-pressed to believe that yours does not as well -- of course, had you attended Proclamation Night, you would know this for a fact.

Concern No. 5: Why at a Chapel?

Why not? I don't get it ...

In addressing some of the statements you make in your conclusion, it truly saddens me that you chose not to partake in Proclamation Night during your freshman year.

It seems as though, as I hope I made clear in my response to your concerns, traditions like Proclamation Night are exactly what you described as being special.

You said: "I think the idea of such a tradition is absolutely excellent. Having an opportunity to bond with my classmates and be able to see my growth over the years are memories that would stay with me forever."

That describes the purpose of Proclamation Night perfectly, and had you just been a bit more aware and less critical of the night's intentions, you would have had the opportunity to experience the feeling you described above.

I hope with all my heart that you decide to attend Proclamation Night as a senior. Now that you can sleep at night knowing there is no one who is excluded from participating in this unique tradition (I still don't know where you got that impression), there is no reason not to go.

And if you do go, I hope that you can appreciate it for the exact reasons you described above because that is what it is truly meant to be.

While you sadly will not have a letter to read from your freshman year, I guarantee that the evening will still mark a significant moment as a Westhampton woman and student at the University of Richmond.