The tone of interfaith understanding is a relatively recent development in the history of the Baccalaureate.

The service finds its roots in the medieval period at the commencement of Cambridge University.

During the first Baccalaureate sermons, monastic devotion was expected of a candidate while he "sat with bowed head over which his hood was drawn, a picture of abject humility and utter embarrassment," according to Cambridge's 13th-century statutes as quoted by Gomes in the Baccalaureate service's program.

The tradition was carried across the Atlantic to New England and figured in Harvard's first Commencement in 1642.

In a strict Puritan society, Commencement was a rare chance to celebrate, and residents of surrounding towns mobbed Cambridge.

The days before Commencement were given over to drunken revelry, but the spiritual oratory served as counterpoint to less solemn activities like attacking student theses and gorging at feasts.

An 18th-century observer, describing a typical commencement, derided the stodginess of the sermon with a sarcastic comment.

"[It] goes off brilliantly, that is to say, nobody gets depressed," he said.