Commencement Day Tossing Traditions

The scene of hundreds of jubilant graduates tossing their black mortarboards into the air upon commencement is a quintessential graduation symbol. Many colleges and universities including the U.S. Naval Academy, sanction the practice, however there is a trend toward banning the tossing of anything into the air. Injuries from flying tortillas and caps have promoted UC Davis and the University of Arizona to ban tossing from the ceremonies. At Harvard’s 2006 graduation, among the most unusual totems thrown were inflatable plastic Aladdin’s lamps accompanied by ears of wheat.

Here are some creative tossing traditions:

• Surgical gloves
• Globes
• Gavels
• Condoms
• Faux CliffsNotes
• False Teeth
• Rulers
• Inflatable Sharks
• Construction Tape
• Rubber chickens
• Toothpaste Tubes