A Great Begining
The Class of 1996's commencement ceremony on May 26 marked the 175th time that Colby has granted bachelor's degrees to a graduating class. On this anniversary year it seems appropriate to remember the College's original commencement, held in August 1822, when Colby was known as Waterville College.
The first graduating class consisted of just two students--George Dana Boardman and Ephraim Tripp. There was one honorary degree recipient, Samuel Wait, who later founded Wake Forest College.
Colby's first president, Jeremiah Chaplin, who shepherded the College through its infancy, presided over the first commencement. He wrote the Latin phrases that still are used at graduation ceremonies and that appear on every diploma, including the often-invoked sentence, "All that your instructors have been able to do for you has been done."
The processional was big on pomp but small in number. In addition to the two students, the group included Albion K. Parris, Maine's first governor, trustees, Colby professors (there were only two) and Chaplin.
The ceremony took place in the meeting house in the center of Waterville, which was then a village of a few hundred people. Most of the audience were Waterville residents who at first were eager to witness the ceremony and stampeded in but grew restless during the long induction speeches. Many of them left before the proceedings had ended.