Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
University of Miami. Office of Commencement
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
All activities related to commencement ceremonies are managed by the Office of Commencement of the University of Miami.
The ceremonial mace in the collection of the University Archives was donated by the Office of Commencement of the University of Miami in 2010. It is a symbolic weapon to protect the ideals of truth, justice, and leaning carried at the head of the academic procession during the commencement ceremony by the Grand Marshal, whose symbolic duty is the protection of the University, its people, and its processes.
There are no documents on the ceremonial maces used by the university in the past and present, but the Archives assumes that the item donated was the second mace used from 1950s to 1980s. Historical images of the first and second maces are available in the University of Miami Historical Photograph Collection.
According to the Office of Commencement, the current mace dates back to 1986, which was sculpted by UM professor of art William Ward.