I would like to begin with explanation of a graduation ceremony as it is. It assists us to compare our own ceremony. It is generally agreed that it is a cultural tradition termed as a rite of passage. But what's that?

It is a ritual or ceremony that marks one stage of a person's life to another. Like marriage is the most commonly known and observed today. "Rite of passage" was termed by anthropologist Arnold van Gennep in 1909 who believed that passage rituals had 3 steps:
(1) Separation from Society
(2) Inculcation-transformation;
(3) Return to Society in the new status.

All passage rituals fulfill certain universal functions:
(1) Dramatize facing new responsibilities, opportunities and dangers.
(2) Readjust the participant (and all in their social circle) to these changes.
(3) They establish solidarity and sacredness of common values (or rituals?).

Each culture either creates it's own rite of passage ceremony, or acquires one
being handed-down (tradition) or both; and, will form a new ritual based on the
current moment. The graduation ceremony dates back to the 12th century. Some
feel it began with scholastic monks with their ceremonies in robes and has
evolved to fit the society in which it is celebrated ever since.

The American Heritage dictionary defines this as:
(1) The degree of Bachelor conferred upon graduates of most
U.S. colleges and universities.
(2) The farewell address delivered in the form of a sermon
to the graduating class of a High School or College.
Legend states the Baccalaureate ceremony originated back to a statute dated 1432
at Oxford University, that required each bachelor to deliver a sermon in Latin
as part of his academic exercise. Because the earliest universities in this
country were founded primarily to educated ministers, the British practice of a
Baccalaureate service continued. Today, the service is usually an interfaith one
that celebrates the completion of an undergraduate academic career
In our modern times, the sermon doesn't have to be done by a religious person,
but can be done by the dean or principal of the school, an invited guest (often
famous or well-respected) or by the school valedictorian. (See below). The
baccalaureate can be serious or light-hearted. In some cases, a time limit is
set on the length of the speech, depending on the size of the graduation class.
In other cases the weather is a big factor if the ceremony is held outdoors. ;)
The baccalaureate might be included in the graduation ceremony while for other
schools it is a separate event that takes place before the commencement (a day
or a few hours).

What's the difference between a commencement and a baccalaureate?

The commencement is when the graduates are handed their diplomas and walk across
the stage and flip the tassels on their hats upon receiving their degrees and
handshake.
The baccalaureate ceremony is considered the highlight of the school year. It
is especially a time to formally recognize the achievements of students who are
in honor societies and who have earned academic excellence. In other words, it's
for those who truly studied, did not cheat or steal ideas off others and truly
were honest and who did not settle for "status quo" grades but worked to be the
best of what they could be. However, with some schools having two ceremonies is
too expensive and a lot of work, so the baccalaureate is blending with the
commencement (sometimes making it a long event).

The reasons we Cap and Gown is so complex. But when it comes to the baccalaureate, in *some* cases they are given symbolic hoods. The origin of hoods is said to go back to the Celts and their Druids. This might confuse people because a Druid is a Celtic Priest. Celtic is a nationality and Priest is a part of that society. Just like you might have an Irish Priest in the US. His nationality is Irish but his role
in society is Priest.

Now, within the Celtic groups, only the Druid priests wore capes with hoods to
symbolize their superiority in the group. The Druids were the priests where who
were considered to have superior knowledge of the sciences and nature. The Druid knew about herbs, astrology, etc. Thus the hood = superior intelligence. The hood DID NOT represent a form of hiding faces (as some groups have used it for). Later on, this ceremony became part the Middle Ages when meaningful symbols were associated with the conferring of a degree. One of these symbols is the academic hood. The hood is presented during the baccalaureate ceremony. Originally worn as a head covering in the cold schools of the middle ages, the hood is now used to identify a graduate's academic institution and degree.
The velvet color on the outer edge of the hood denotes the graduate's degree -
-white for arts and letters, gold for science, and brown for fine arts. The
combination of the institutional and departmental colors represents a scholar's
academic achievement.

The shape and size of the hood and the sleeve design of the gown show the degree
a student pursued:

1. Bachelor's Degree gown has pointed sleeves and no hood.
2. Master's Degree gown has long, closed sleeves with arm slits and a narrow
hood.
3. Doctor's Degree has bell-shaped sleeves and a draped, wide hood.
Hood's Lining and Facing Significance:
The color of the hood's lining tells which college or university the degree was
given by. For example: Harvard is crimson, Temple is cherry and white, and
Cornell is purple and white. However, other than the lining, the hood must be
black.
The field of study is designated by the color of the hood's facing.
A few examples:
Theology = scarlet
Arts Letters and Humanities = white
Music = pink.

For more on the hood and further information visit "The Graduate School" website. http://www.msu.edu/user/gradschl/all/hooding.htm

Thus, according to the above points on the origin of a ceremony at university there are serious problems to the yesterday event at the faculty of social science, Tehran University. I agree that it was a wonderful event and all enjoyed but it should be distinguished between a graduation day and a common ceremony.
It was interesting to see students gather together to celebrate. But it showed that we have not much experience to organize this event as same as foreign universities, whether in east or west. The music was informal when the presenter call the students to come to the get their award, no formal anthem despite Tehran University recently manage to compose such.

The dean of the faculty was absent and only appeared at the end. A student representative Ehsan Javanmard, also a poet, read his fantastic paper, in the graduation ceremony nobody should address people so long.
I hope with better knowledge on the origin of graduation ceremony and adopt some point it might be turn up as a very cultural event and assist the social science to grow and develop faster that ever in Iran.