Community celebration for graduations
The Launceston Town and Gown graduation procession is coming up and members of the community welcome to join in wishing the university’s graduands well on their special day.
The procession will take place on Saturday 17 December - 10:30am. The procession is held before the 11am ceremony only, but all candidates graduating on the day are invited to participate.
At 10:30am the procession, with police escort and band, will move from Civic Square south along St John Street, east along Brisbane Street, and then through City Park, arriving at the Albert Hall at 10.45 am.
A brief history of Town and Gown processions: Town and Gown dates back to the Middle Ages. Town’ referred to the non-academic population and the ‘gown’ to the university community.
Students who attended European universities during this time wore academic long black gowns with a hood and cap, similar to what was worn by the clergy.
The hood was decorated with different colours dependent on the college they were affiliated with. This created a distinction between students and other citizens of the town, hence the term ‘town and gown.’
For more information on the Town and Gown processions and graduations, visit: http://www.utas.edu.au/graduation/