Franklin Galleries

On a perfect May morning, an electric feeling envelops Chapel Hill. The much anticipated day has finally arrived. Years of anticipation would be condensed into moments. Lifelong dreams would soon be fulfilled. As the moment nears, the excitement heightens. And then suddenly, without provocation, the blue mass erupts into a thunderous roar of celebration which reverberates through an entire town. A mass of mortarboards are launched into the awaiting sky.

“Celebration” by North Carolina artist Russell Smith captures the excitement and jubilation of this awesome moment in this second edition of Franklin Galleries Traditions Collection®. The hats fly against the backdrop of an ‘angelic’ sky while the graduates celebrate their remarkable accomplishment in the shadow of the Bell Tower. Smith’s brilliant use of light, color and contrast create a visually stunning piece that you will be proud to display in your home or office.

	Tossing the hats in the air has long been a Carolina graduation tradition. Smith immaculately captures this unforgettable moment.
	Russell Smith is a master at using light to illuminate the moment. He frames the tossed before the Morehead Patterson Bell Tower of in the distance
	Our memories of Carolina will always include the friends we made. Graduation Day is a day of celebration for students, friends and family.

With commencement addresses from Noble Prize winners, to famous actors and Presidents, Carolina has had its share of memorial graduation ceremonies. The following facts are among the most notable…

One particularly memorable one happened in 1799, the second year of the ceremony. That year a serious rift on campus occurred when several university employed tutors were attacked by students who charged that the faculty members were being “aristocratic.” Similar countercharges were directed toward the students, by those same members accusing the students of being “immoral” and “resistant to discipline.” (Does this sound familiar?) The students were sought by the school disciplinarians. The “apprehending officers” of the accused “rule breakers” located, tried, and charged each of the rule breakers with an expulsion notice… In the group were a large number of “advanced students;” therefore, the graduation ceremony had only three graduates that spring.

The exact year of the inception of the Carolina Blue graduation gown is unknown, but the blue and white colors became the standard attire for commencement and other glorious events, like socials and balls. The Carolina Blue and White are a significant part of the Carolina history, dating all the way back to the students from the original two prominent literary societies found on campus. The rivalry between the members of the Dialectic Literary Society (affectionately called the Di’s), who wore light blue attire as a distinguishing identification, and the Philanthropic Literary Society (the Phi’s), who wore white. It wasn’t until 1888, when intercollegiate athletics became organized, did the university officials decide to combine the colors of the two societies to symbolize one university, not two rival societies.

Ironically, it was the 1847 commencement address that former United States President James Knox Polk, class of 1818, credited his training in UNC’s Dialectic Society as a major factor in his political success. Polk participated in the most popular campus activity of the time, debating, as a member of the Di’s Society. In fact, Polk shared with that commencement audience that “the campus debates prepared and trained him to preside over the US government.” When Polk attended Carolina debating was far larger than football! He added, “To the university’s credit, the diploma presented to each graduate did not signify scholarship as much as each student’s ability to manage other men; however, everyone could translate Latin inscriptions on that diploma.”