Opinion: Romp and circumstance

High school graduation is a time for solemnity and sober reflection, but Hernando High principal Elaine Sullivan may also need to loosen her collar a little. Through enforcement of an ambiguous code of ceremonial behavior at Saturday's graduation exercises, she came off less like a steward than a scold.

Sullivan held on to the diplomas of four students, forcing them to come to her office on Tuesday to get them, because she says their behavior was undignified. In the case of senior Charles Strange, his behavior was this: His name was called, he received his diploma case, a cheer erupted in the audience, he turned and waved his diploma case in the air, and then he shook the hand of the superintendent, hugged some teachers and left the stage. Says principal Sullivan, by way of explanation: "The reason we do it is to ensure that the dignity of the graduation remains intact and that the next student (in line) and the next student don't show off."

Somewhere in her authoritarian line of logic, Sullivan does have a point. With hundreds of students and thousands of family members on hand for the ceremony, all involved need to show respect for each other and for the moment in the sun that is afforded every student who achieves the high honor of graduation. But waving a diploma case is hardly worthy of administrative rebuke.

Graduation exercises are rooted in age-old traditions of commencement, but they also must be accepting of changing social mores and the intensely personal reactions the ceremony provokes. Some parents cry, some pray, some videotape, some stand and holler. Some students walk timidly, others stand proud, some get downright goofy. At its core, graduation is a time for celebration, an event held not for the administrators who must supervise it but for the young men and women who have earned it. Sure, there need to be boundaries on behavior, but what good purpose is served by stifling jubilation?

If Dr. Sullivan would listen to her youthful graduates, they might offer some sage advice: Chill out.

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