<p>I was looking at my uncle's diploma the other day, and at first I couldn't tell what I was looking at. The only thing I could read was his name, because apparently they printed the rest of it in Latin.</p>
<p>My first thought was, "how elite can you get, printing something in an extinct language that normal people can't read." </p>
<p>I meant to ask him why, but it slipped my mind.</p>
<p>Furthermore, why does it say "veritas" on the little shield in the top left corner? Doesn't verity mean truth? (Is that Harvard's motto or something?)</p>
<p>I’m very normal. I can also read Latin. The interesting question is: Does Harvard supply an official English translation, and if they do, does the translation actually say the same thing as the Latin? Yale’s doesn’t, quite.</p>
<p>As far as I know the reason they are in Latin is because when Harvard was founded the primary purpose of a college education was to learn Latin and Greek. Diplomas were written in Latin as a standard that dates back to Oxford and Cambridge at least.</p>
<p>Yes, Harvard’s motto is ‘Veritas’. When Yale was founded some 70 years later they also went with “Veritas’, but in true 'wait, there’s more!” fashion included “Lux”</p>
<p>So at Harvard you get Truth, but at Yale, if you order in the next 15 minutes, you get Truth AND Light!</p>
<p>The Bachelor of Arts that my DD received last year is not in Latin. It reads:</p>
<p>HARVARD UNIVERSITY
At Cambridge in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
The President and Fellows of Harvard College, with the consent of
the Honorable and Reverend Board of Overseers and acting on
the recommendation of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, have conferred on</p>
<p>FIRST NAME MIDDLE NAME SURNAME</p>
<p>the degree of Bachelor of Art
ZZZZXXX laude in XXXXXXX and YYYYYYYY</p>
<p>Indeed! Check out the second verse of the fight song (the Latin faculty surely does NOT approve):</p>
<p>Illegitimum Non Carborundum;
Domine salvum fac.
Illegitimum Non Carborundum;
Domine salvum fac.
Gaudeamus igitur!
Veritas non sequitur?
Illegitimum non Carborundum – ipso facto!</p>
<p>My diploma dates back to the 1980s, and it’s in English. (Yeah, I know catchtwentythree already found the Crimson article about the switch from Latin to English in 1961, but I’m chiming in anyway. So sue me.) But my sister-in-law’s Yale diploma (also from the '80s) is in Latin.</p>
<p>(And, gadad, I don’t think anybody–not even the band, who distribute and popularize them–thinks those words are actually a second verse of “Ten Thousand Men of Harvard.”)</p>
<p>Universities originated in the Middle Ages. Latin was the language of scholarship (at least in the Western world) until several centuries later. Use of Latin on the diplomas represents the great legacy of the medieval universities.</p>
<p>A family member, who attended Boston College, also has a Latin diploma. Im not sure if BCs diplomas are still in Latin.</p>
<p>Harvards original motto was Veritas Cristo et Ecclesiae which means Truth for Christ and the Church. Im not sure when they shortened it to Veritas.</p>
<p>The medieval student song in Latin, Gaudeamus Igitur, is sung at many high school and university commencements. In fact, it is known at universities all over the world. It particularly seems to be popular at Eastern European universities, even though their languages do not derive from Latin roots, as they do in many West European countries. Heres a version from a Russian university:
<a href=“Gaudeamus — MEPhI Male Choir (Мужской хор МИФИ) - YouTube”>Gaudeamus — MEPhI Male Choir (Мужской хор МИФИ) - YouTube;
<p>Brahms incorporated parts of this song into his well-known, Academic Festival Overture.</p>
<p>Gaudeamus also used to be sung at the Olympics due to the high number of student athletes who participated.</p>
<p>Pusey changed the bachelor’s degrees to English (The Law School’s–as I look at it is in latin). Funny thing-- Yale’s are in Latin but it grants a B.A. Harvard’s are in English yet it grants an A.B.</p>
<p>The change occurred when the College became Unitarian, as I have been told. It is technically thus although it’s recently deceased and just named Preacher and Chaplain are American Bapitist and are most definitely Trinitarian. The Services are straight from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.</p>
<p>Yes, my '99 AB is in English and '02 JD is in Latin.</p>
<p>Fun fact: my class was the last group of female undergraduates from Radcliffe College, Harvard University, and ours are the last diplomas signed by both Harvard and Radcliffe presidents. I don’t know if this would impact the price if I were ever to sell it on eBay.</p>
<p>There is a story that when Pusey proposed the change it caused a bit of a kerfuffle amongst the students. A group went to protest–and Pusey handed them a Latin diploma and asked them to translate it. When they could not (obviously not classics concentrators) Pusey said that his decision would stand.</p>
<p>I’m perfectly happy with my daughter’s diploma being in English. Harvard gets trashed for pretentiousness enough as it is without clinging to that unnecessary anachronism.</p>