55 Years! -- Remembering Penn State's Commencement, June 12, 1971

Beaver Stadium, Penn State University

Who could have thought that I would ever be celebrating the 55th anniversary of my undergraduate commencement on June 12, 1971.

That was a joyous day, but today’s celebration is also very happy.

Maybe I can reach 60.

What I distinctly remember is that it was a beautiful, sunny day in front of about 35,000 people at Beaver Stadium. Today, PSU no longer has the entire class together for commencement, but that was what made it special. We did it together, on a very warm day.

I also remember that the keynote speaker was a nationally recognized figure. He was Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Earl Warren, who had retired as chief justice about two years earlier. I was working with one of my students tonight who wanted to write about the civil rights movement in the U.S., and one of the keys was the Brown Board of Education decision in 1954 that he wrote and became the key to the movement.

Chief Justice Earl Warren

I do not remember the story that Chief Justice Warren gave that day, except that it was edifying and was the one time during those ceremonies that everyone listened.

What I do remember and can visualize is this. I was sitting with the other liberal arts graduates in the north end of the stadium, and when Justice Warren was walking out after the end of the services, he went through the entrance that went right through the LA section.

As he neared us, a tremendous roar from the students greeted him, and he was pleased, raised his hand in thanks.

Maybe not everyone loved Earl Warren, but we did.

Four Lillyites graduated

I have included a photo from 2017 with two of my Penn State classmates, Gary Van Blargan and Harry (Harold) Zendlock, both Lillyites. The fourth Lilly native from our class that year was Jimmy Leap.

I remember that period of life as one of joy and much hard work. Attending Penn State was the joy of my life, and that decision served me well.

Gary, Harry, and I

Phi Beta Kappa

One of the surprises of that weekend was a phone call that I received a few weeks earlier. It was literally a shocker. The young woman said that she was calling for Phi Beta Kappa, Lamba of Pennsylvania, to inform me that I had been selected for induction on June 11, if I desired to accept.

You could have knocked me over with a feather. I had worked very hard and knew that I was one of the students who would be recognized for honors, but I had no idea Penn State even had Phi Beta Kappa. This was certainly not one of my goals, but there it was.

Five us from our family were at that dinner at the Nittany Lion Inn, and that is a memorable event in my life.

I have attached a funny story about the commencement that I published a few years ago.

A classmate offered to share at our Penn State commencement in 1971 at Beaver Stadium — but I politely declined.

I preferred to listen to former Chief Justice Earl Warren, one of my heroes.

Always a character at graduation

I was excited as I walked into Beaver Stadium on June 12, 1971, for our commencement exercises. The journey had been somewhat arduous, yet joyful.

Since I had never attended Kindergarten since we had none in those days, I never recall having been taught to share, like the kids are today.

However, I was a little surprised with what transpired in the College of Liberal Arts section of the stadium. First, the immediate smell was an odor with which I had become familiar, though not because I had imbibed in it.

Yes, that hemp-smell was very clear in the stadium. Remember, this was just after the ‘60s, and that was when it became the choice of so many young people.

However, as I looked for some friends, I was accosted by a classmate whom I had never met. For lack of a better name, I will call him “Slick.”

As I sat down to enjoy the ceremonies, Slick approached me and said something like this,

Hey, Dude, how about joining me with a toke? You graduate from Penn State only once and you gotta celebrate.

Distant recollection

I politely declined, as did many of my classmates. Well, most of us studiously tried to avoid Slick.

However, Slick continued to hang around through the two-hour ceremony that culminated with our moving our tassels and then receiving our diplomas.

The “chicks”

Slick did say one other thing before the ceremonies started,

Hey, man, you see them chicks over there? The ones who have their gowns open?

Distant recollection

I did, and I surmised that they had their bikinis on underneath it and were sunning themselves on a very sunny, warm morning. Slick, however, disagreed,

Oh, no, Man, they are wearing nothing underneath the gowns. Come on, I’ll show you. I want to see if they want to join me in a little toke.

Distant recollection

Once again, I politely declined, though I was probably more interested in whether or not he was telling the truth than I was in imbibing with him.

Analysis

First, I realized that Slick was likely one of those students who infrequently attended classes at Penn State. Since many of the classes at University Park were large, taking attendance was impossible.

Even the upper level classes had about 50 in them, so many just skipped and enjoyed the social experience.

While I feel sorry for them, those like Slick may have been successful later in life. Stranger things have happened. Very successful men like Bill Gates were college dropouts, though I doubt that Bill was anything like Slick.

Please just disappear

I did listen to the address by former Chief Justice Warren, though in honesty, I could not quote any of it today. Slick had disappeared for a while.

However, he did return, and I remembered a few other little tidbits about him. He had returned toward the end of the ceremonies, and when they asked those students who had the words “with high distinction” or “with distinction” to stand, I did, eliciting this from Slick and he turned at regarded me with a sense of shock,

Oh, wow, we have one of those in our midst. You must have really studied here.

Distant recollection

I just smiled and stood with pride with the others who did indeed study at PSU. Most did, though how much did indeed vary. I kind of doubt that Slick had ever spent time in the stacks at Pattee Library, though.

At the end, Slick, who had been smoking throughout the ceremonies, did offer to share with me one more time.

As usual, I declined. I preferred to remember the wonderful times I had at Penn States both academically and socially that did not include weed — but included expanding my mind in a variety of different ways.