Graduation Urban Legends: True or False?

May 29th, 2009

When it comes to graduation, there’s no shortage of urban legends designed to inspire, frighten, or just elicit a chuckle. Decide if these popular tales are true or false, then scroll down to find out if you’re a candidate for a diploma in discernment.

1. The Graduation Gift
A man asked his father for a sports car as his college graduation gift; he received a Bible instead. Angered by the gift, the son never opened the Bible. He rediscovered it years later, after his father passed away. When he opened the Bible gift box, he found a car key and the words “Paid in Full.”

2. Making the Grade
Henry Kissinger was the last student to graduate from Harvard with perfect grades. He graduated summa cum laude in 1950.

3. The Sneeze
In response to a legal injunction barring invocation and benediction prayers from a high school commencement ceremony, a graduating senior faked a sneeze during his speech so that a group of students could cry out, “God bless you.”

4. Suicide Prevention
A boy befriended a nerdy kid at his high school. Years later, in the valedictory speech at their high school graduation, the nerdy kid thanked the boy for befriending him that day. Were it not for that intervention, the boy admitted he would have committed suicide that weekend.

5. Handshake Ban
In some colleges, congratulatory handshakes at commencement have been banned as a precaution against disease.

6. Virgin Awakening
If a virgin ever graduates from the University of Maryland, Testudo – the school’s bronzed mascot – will rise from his pedestal and fly over the crowd during commencement.

7. Dangerous Caps
A university has requested that graduating students not throw their caps in the air, calling the action a safety hazard.

True or False?

1. Gift: It’s an oft-told tale of hidden treasure, but there’s no record of this ever actually happening. To stay on the safe side, never spurn a gift!

2. Grade: Though Kissinger reportedly received an A in all his courses at Harvard, he was not the only student to achieve that distinction. In 2001, Kevin Schwartz earned perfect grades; in 2003, his sister, Lisa Schwartz, earned straight A’s as well.

3. Sneeze: It’s true, and it happened on May 20, 2001 at Washington Community High School in Washington, IL. Ryan Brown was the student who used a sneeze to protest the court’s prohibition of commencement prayer.

4. Prevention: It’s an inspirational story about the impact we can have on another’s life, but there are no reports of it happening for real. The story is based on a fictional tale that first appeared in “Chicken Soup for the Soul.”

5. Handshakes: Unfortunately, it’s all too true. At the University of Illinois at Chicago, Indiana University, Purdue University, Northeastern University, the University of Hawaii, Florida Gulf Coast University, and the University of South Florida, commencement handshakes were banned this year as a precaution against swine flu.

6. Virgin: Many college students spread superstitions about virgins at their schools, but we’ve yet to see statues come to life.

7. Caps: It’s no joke. Anglia Ruskin University has advised students against throwing their caps in the air because of the potential for injury. Several years ago, a graduating student at the U.K. school needed stitches after being hit by a flying cap.

Are you ready to get your diploma?

Entry Filed under: College Craziness, Pop culture & college