Diplomacy

Diplomacy

COMMENCEMENT

Although technology has changed how they are created, Dartmouth diplomas remain the end product of much thought and careful attention to detail (not to mention classwork and studying). Here are some facts that may make you want to dust off your old diploma and display it with pride.

Gayne Kalustian ’17

PERSONAL TOUCH For students whose names have accents that cannot be written in the standard font, Linotext, the College hires calligraphers to hand write the graduates’ names. If a graduate has a long name, the font size (typically 56 point) is reduced to fit the page.

COPY THAT? Diplomas are printed alphabetically by recipient name using a Xerox lOOOi Press, known for its clarity and uniformity. The machine also watermarks each document.

THE PAPER ISN’T WORTHLESS No imperfections, such as small woodchips, are accepted in the paper on which diplomas are printed: 80-pound Royal Sundance natural white paper. Undergraduate, Thayer and Geisel diplomas are inked. Tuck diplomas have raised lettering. Undergraduate diplomas cost about $2 each to produce. Raised lettering adds about $7.

GOING GREEN The College and Thayer use a shade of green known as PMS 349 at a 20-percent screen. Geisel uses PMS 7728 with a 20-percent screen for the seal.

SIGNED DOCUMENT In addition to the College president, diplomas are signed by the dean of the faculty and the chair of the board of trustees.

PAY UP-OR ELSE! Although most graduates receive their personalized diplomas on stage, seniors with unpaid fees receive blanks until their accounts are current.

SECRET DOCUMENT Diplomas are considered confidential. Only people directly involved in printing or reviewing them see the documents until they are distributed and opened.

QUALITY CONTROL The printing process takes only a couple of days. The undergraduate deans office reviews PDF proofs of all the diplomas before the College print and mail facility prints them. The printed documents are then sent to the dean’s office for inspection. Those that don’t pass muster are reprinted.

BILINGUAL Undergraduate degrees are printed in Latin, while Geisel’s are printed in English. Thayer has both Latin and English on its diplomas. Here, courtesy of a 2015 graduate, is the undergraduate degree language in English: By the authority of the Trustees of Dartmouth College to everyone who shall read these words, greetings! Let it be known that It is right to honor NAME OF GRADUATE and, according to her merits, to bestow upon her the title and the rank of bachelor of arts and that we have granted to her the fullest power of enjoying all of the privileges, immunities and honors which all people extend to this same rank. Of which, let our seal and our names bear witness, having been given from the halls of the College in Hanover, New Hampshire, on the fourteenth day in the month of June in the year 2015

BACKWARD THINKING While most schools give out B.A.s, Dartmouth (like Harvard and Princeton) issues A.B.s because in Latin the bachelor of arts is artium baccalaureus.