Graduation ceremonies in Uganda today are fashion shows…
Makerere University held its week-long 72nd Graduation Ceremony, at the same time celebrating 100 years of contribution to humanity through quality education.
This is the 72nd time the university is conferring a degree to students after concluding their academic tour at the ivory tower, which by the way is the most prestigious academic institution in the country and arguably in East Africa.
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Previously, the graduation at Makerere University’s Freedom Square was an event to look out for by everyone in the country, while it was very painful for those who would not partake of it for different reasons, even worse for those who would miss out on the graduation for one reason or another.
Stories were told of how sharp students would invite their kinsmen to the freedom square well knowing they missed making it to the graduation shortlist. Then they would hire a few people by the side to ululate and stage jubilations as they joined in thousands.
Graduating at Makerere University came with so much pride, that it was at least until the last 2000s left for guardians and parents.
At some point, two invitation cards were given to the graduands and they went to the parents. The candidates also ensured that indeed, their parents were seated in the huge tents, to witness the results of the many years of toiling at the academic hill, and the relations would go off to their ancestral homes and make merry much to the envy of others.
In very many scenarios, Graduands would make a visit to different relatives and friends, to fundraise for a party, and on the day, they would carry fellow graduands and the day would go down with all manner of speeches, and praises. Tears would flow as they reminisced the times to their graduation and in the end, all tribes of gifts would be donated.
The entire graduation process was one that would leave a mark for both the family and the graduand, and during all this time, dress code never at once mattered.
All one needed was a new pair of shoes or a normal dress, and for the males, just a suit or a tie, while gowns were shared from one graduation to another.
I specifically was using “my” graduation ceremony for the fourth time as it came down from three of my siblings, while the suit I wore is one that I had been using during my final year social festivities.
Times have changed, today the different graduation ceremonies are more of a show of fashion and trend, and candidates take more time preparing how they will show up and take the day.
It is a time for the paparazzi to make the best out of it, a moment where people want to be remembered for how they dressed on that day, rather than how their academic journey shaped up.
Pictures from the week-long graduation ceremony at Makerere have been clearly confirming, that the female candidates took the day a notch higher, parading all forms of fashion and filling timelines with what they normally refer to as drip!
In the near future, shall we have the same meaning attached to these ceremonies?
