Donning of Kente ceremony

Donning Of The
Kente Ceremony At West Chester University

In the fall of 1992, the former Director of Affirmative Action, Dr. Franklin Simpson and Jerome “Skip” Hudson, Director of Minority Affairs met to discuss the development of a program to honor and celebrate the achievements of African American students who would be graduating from West Chester University in May, 1993. Out of this, and other meetings with Dr. Christian Awuyah and Dr. C. James Trotman, the idea of a Kente Commencement Ceremony was born.

The original goals of the program remain true today. It was designed to recognize the academic and personal achievements of the graduates, and to encourage them to accept the challenge and responsibility to continue to strive for excellence in their personal, academic, and professional careers. It was also hoped that the ceremony would be a recruitment, retention and motivation tool; one that they too, can look forward to being recognized and honored in a similar fashion upon their graduation. A third goal was to develop a new tradition that strengthens the bond to the institution for the graduates even long after their departure.

Although there are similar programs at many other colleges and universities, the West Chester ceremony remains unique in at least one very important aspect. Prior to the program, each participating graduate is asked to identify a family member, friend or other significant individual to take part in the celebration. During the ceremony, a kente stole is presented to this person by a member of the University community, the kente is then bestowed upon the graduate with all the appropriate sentiments for this special occasion. Its purpose is to recognize and promote the significance of family, friends, and the “university family” in the accomplishments of the graduate.

To date, over 500 graduating seniors have participated in the previous ceremonies. As planned, it has become a program that is eagerly anticipated by the University, families, friends, and in particular, the graduating students.

Graduation medals & Medallions as symbols of achievement.

History of Medals

The medal is a symbol of excellence and has a very rich heritage. At the early games in Greece, winners of events were given laurel wreaths. Today’s athletic winners are presented with gold, silver, and bronze medals, still depicting the laurel wreath. In nearly every nation of the world, medals have long been presented to honor great and heroic deeds by individuals in the military, arts, and citizenship. The Congressional Medal of Honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Purple Heart, are but just a few well known medals given by the United States Government. Today, medals are presented as a symbol of achievement from the elementary school level to the corporate level. Wherever there are people striving to achieve, there you will find medals as the reward.

Why Medals

Medals are the only award that can be worn at the time of presentation and still be displayed proudly for generations to come. We are all familiar with award ceremonies – the emotional triumph of the three athletes standing on the podium with gold, silver or bronze medals draped around their necks. This proud moment is shared by many as they observe the presentation. All eyes are on the medals, the tangible proof symbolizing the athlete’s achievement, Imaging that same magic moment at your award ceremony presenting that graduate of alumni with his or her own medal. That symbol of achievement is alive in each and every custom medal.

To review various options for graduation medallions, visit www.primeheritage.com or www.graduation-stoles.com
Tel: 800-626-3796

High School Seniors Stoles show off their colleges.

High School Seniors to debut College Bound Stoles and sashes at Graduations.

Prime Heritage, a leading online retailer of custom graduation stoles is offering college bound stoles for class of 2009 high school seniors at
www.graduation-stoles.com.

High schools can now visually show off the caliber of colleges their graduating seniors will be attending in the fall. The stoles are available in college colors and imprinted with college’s name and college graduation year.

Proud parents and guardians can proudly present these stoles as motivational gifts that the high school seniors can look forward to wearing again when they graduate from college in four years.

According to Kiva Jones, marketing director of Prime Heritage, her company is offering free shipping, graduation medallions/ribbons with any purchase of 2 or more stoles.

For more information on college bound stoles, please contact Kiva Jones at 800-626-3796 or email kiva@primeheritage.com.

Latino Greek sashes, an expresion of achievement & pride.

Latino Greek sashes, an expression of achievement, pride and heritage.

To those outside the Greek world, when one hears the words "fraternity" or "sorority", the images that first come to mind are "parties, hazing, alcohol and other stereotypes, because of mostly negative main stream media reports.

In May and June, at graduation ceremonies across the country, Latino Greeks are hoping to help change that image by wearing sashes imprinted with their fraternity and sorority letters to express pride in their heritage and academic achievement of Greeks on campuses.

According to A.J. Akoto, marketing manager of Graduation-stoles.com, a leading online retailer of graduation stoles and sashes, "many colleges and universities are embracing this growing trend because each fraternity or sorority stole worn at commencement is a reflection of the institution's commitment to Greek life on campus".


"The stoles represent pride, respect, achievement, gratitude and honor of being a member of a specific Greek organization. Greeks are making a statement that for every negative report, there are hundreds of Greeks who take their academic pursuits seriously." declares Mr. Jerome Hutson, a student adviser at West Chester University in Pennsylvania


Graduation-stoles.com, primeheritage.com and Goldcoastafrica.com are among the leading retailers of graduation stoles.


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