A steady voice, a love of the stage and 5,000 lines

Life consists of many moments. One of the biggest is college graduation. During this month’s commencement ceremonies, UW–Madison students will walk across the stage at the Kohl Center, shake hands with a dean and hear their names echoing throughout the arena.

But who are the voices behind each of those approximately 5,000 special moments that occur in five commencement ceremonies spread out over three days?

The answer starts with Patricia Boyette, who has been in charge of the commencement announcing process for eight years. As a professor in the theatre and drama department, and head of the department’s acting/directing area, she has ready access to the most highly trained voices on campus. Usually, she recruits three students who are pursuing master of fine arts degrees in acting to assist her at the ceremonies. A simple e-mail to all MFA acting candidates has always garnered an immediate and enthusiastic response, Boyette says.

“It’s a positive experience for the announcers,” she explains. “The atmosphere is very celebratory, since the people in the audience are cheering, holding signs and searching for their graduate.”

The MFA students who provided their services at the Winter Commencement ceremonies last December — Sommer Austin, Scott Bennett and John Graham — were all veteran announcers. They say their role in several ceremonies has provided them with excellent sight-reading practice, in addition to extra income.

And those dollars are definitely earned.

Each ceremony is a non-stop flurry of activity for those announcing the graduates’ names. Boyette and the student announcers arrive at the Kohl Center about 45 minutes before the ceremony begins. They use this time to dress in their cardinal red marshal robes (the traditional attire worn by the individuals facilitating the ceremony) and glance over the graduates’ names, which are listed in the official program. They also down a few glasses of water and juice, hoping to ward off the dreaded dry-mouth syndrome.

Just minutes before the start of the event, the announcers quickly decide on their roles for the ceremony. Boyette typically serves as the “shepherd,” while the students alternate among the positions of “reader,” “feeder” and “orientator.”

When the opening music begins to play, they (along with the official party) make their way to the stage and take their places. The reader and feeder sit at a table on stage left, while the shepherd and orientator sit in chairs directly behind the other two. After the chancellor and other speakers make their remarks, the deans of each school and college officially present their graduates to the chancellor in turn. The graduates form a line adjacent to the stage and carry forms they have filled out prior to the ceremony with their names and phonetic spellings. The orientator sits close to the line, ready to answer questions the graduates have as they step onto the stage.

Then that special moment arrives. The first graduate hands a form to the feeder, who quickly scans it for a particularly challenging name and places it upright in front of the reader. The reader announces the name aloud into the microphone and throws the form into a small wastebasket beside the table. Instantly, the next form is passed from the reader to the feeder — and a steady flow of names and graduates begins.

The goal is to keep a pace that allows the name to be read just before or just as the graduate is handed a diploma cover. This is where the shepherd comes in.

“My job is to help each student to arrive where the dean is standing at just the right time,” explains Boyette. “I also monitor the reader’s speed and tell that person when to slow down or speed up.”

Between the different degree conferrals (bachelor’s, master’s or Ph.D.), the announcers have a few minutes to sip water before the next group lines up and the routine begins anew. They also use this break in the action to switch roles — something they do three or four times during each ceremony.

This carefully choreographed process has proven to be amazingly efficient. Most ceremonies, during which approximately 1,100 students are guided across the stage, are completed within an hour and a half.

But that’s not to say that problems never arise. Those receiving doctoral degrees are accompanied by their major professors, which often throws off the pace. The pronunciation of unfamiliar names or those with unusual spellings can slow things down. Poor penmanship or incorrect phonetic spellings on the forms carried by the graduates can hinder the reader’s efforts. And last, a few students will try to slip in humorous names on their forms. Though the feeder attempts to catch these before placing the form in front of the reader, some have sneaked through — Luke Skywalker, Joey Butafuoco and Kermit D. Phrog, among others.

This May, Bennett and Graham will return to the stage to announce names at the spring commencement ceremonies. Joining them will be fellow MFA acting candidate Jim Stauffer. However, all three will be graduating themselves during the weekend.

“Because all of the MFA acting candidates are graduating this semester, I definitely had to scramble to find others to help out,” says Boyette.

Pinch-hitting for the students at the other ceremonies will be Roseann Sheridan, visiting acting instructor in the theatre and drama department, and Kristin Hunt, one of the department’s doctoral students. These newcomers will face quite a challenge, with the first ceremony to be held on Friday evening and two more on both Saturday and Sunday of commencement weekend, May 16-18.

While most graduates will celebrate their special moments by heading off with their families and friends after the ceremony, the announcers will no doubt be heading for the nearest water fountain.