Celebrating TU’s cultural communities
Get to know the insignia, communities honoring graduating students’ identities, cultures
By Towson University on May 16, 2024
At Towson University’s spring Commencement, many graduating students will wear special stoles showcasing their affiliation and engagement with various groups on campus.
Through a series of programs and celebrations, the Center for Student Diversity (CSD) and Student Success Programs (SSP) reaffirms students’ identities and educates the campus community of the importance of its diversity and inclusive practices.
Most significantly for graduation, CSD and SSP use graduation stoles to symbolize Towson University’s recognition and celebration of the diversity of its students.
As part of this recognition, in the weeks leading up to Commencement, both CSD and SSP hold celebration events to honor graduating students and the communities that supported them throughout their college journeys.
Student Success Programs Closing Ceremony
Hosted by the Student Success Programs, the SSP Closing Ceremony honors Towson University’s SAGE students, CROP students and those students who identify as first generation.
The ceremony honors the SAGE and CROP mentors of the year, announces the recipients of the Gen One Futures Scholarship and showcases the impact these students have on TU’s campus. It also introduces the program’s new mentors for the following academic year.
For the first time in TU’s history there will be a special stole that honors TU’s first-generation students. The white stole features the Gen One insignia, the words first generation and the Towson University logo.
Ebony Celebration
Every year the Ebony Celebration is an opportunity to recognize and celebrate graduating seniors, who receive a kente stole. A woven textile originating in West Africa, kente is worn on special occasions and has become a symbol of achievement and resilience at graduation ceremonies throughout the African diaspora. The woven stole has a black background; red, green and yellow stripes; the Asante stool symbol signifying royalty; and the graduation year.
The African American Student Development Program supports, promotes and enhances the intellectual, academic, social and personal development of African American students and students from the African Diaspora.
Lavender Celebration
The Lavender Celebration honors LGBTQIA+ students of all races and ethnicities to acknowledge their academic achievements and contributions to the university.
At the ceremony, graduating students receive a lavender stole with rainbow stripes.
The use of lavender is a reclamation of symbols of hatred transformed during the Civil Rights Movement into symbols of pride and community.
The rainbow stripes signify pride, the diversity of the LGBTQIA+ community and the
spectrum of sexuality and gender.
The Sexuality and Gender Diversity Student Development Program provides education and resources for a diverse population of students that includes
Tigers from various sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, abilities,
races and ethnicities.
APIMEDA Graduation Celebration
This year marks the inaugural Asian, Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern and Desi American (APIMEDA) Graduation Celebration at TU. The APIMEDA ceremony recognizes graduates within the APIMEDA community alongside their friends and family.
Graduating students receive a black stole with gold trim, embroidered with the APIMEDA
acronym on one side and TU CSD on the other, to signify their achievements and involvement
during college.
The APIMEDA Student Development Program offers programming and activities that focus on creating dialogue and awareness around
issues pertaining to the APIMEDA and diaspora communities.
Latine/x Graduation Celebration
In its eighth year, the Latine/x Graduation Celebration honors Latine/x graduates
at TU and their communities. At this ceremony, graduates receive a serape stole made
of woven material found in many Latin American countries. More than a symbol of graduation,
the serape represents graduates’ pride in their cultures, empowerment to succeed and
ability to overcome obstacles to reach this milestone.
The Latine/x Student Development Program works to recruit, engage, retain and graduate students from Latine/x backgrounds
and to ensure their academic, sociocultural, personal and professional success.