ITB Graduation Procession

Graduation ceremonies at ITB are, by all accounts, utterly unique. Forget the dull, stuffy affairs of British universities (although that probably happens too) – this is a riot of noise, colour and solidarity. Especially noise.

The ceremonies happen three times in a year: In April, July and October. Undergraduate ceremonies are on a Saturday (in 2012, the 3rd Saturday in October) and postgraduate ceremonies happen on the day before. Find out from the graduates when this’ll be, although probably everyone else in Bandung will know the dates too. You should head down for around 1pm if you want to catch the whole thing, which goes on until at least 5pm. Take an angkot to the main entrance of ITB, which are plentiful. Note that you should avoid walking back to Juanda Dago from this road after sunset because it’s known for robberies – frequent angkots run back to the main road anyway. On this road there are lots of women selling flowers, as it’s traditional for people to give friends who are graduating a single flower.

If you’re unsure about where to go once you get inside, just follow the noise. The procession starts on the main steps next to the library and the research building – they’re big, modern concrete buildings at the edge of the campus. Here you’ll see lots of students and other spectators gathered to watch as each major emerges from the tunnel with the year’s cohort of graduates and other members of the department. Each faculty carries an enormous, ancient-looking banner with the logo of the faculty on, each featuring ITB’s iconic seated elephant, which they’ll display on the steps whilst someone with a big voice leads chants of solidarity to the department. Student associations for each major discipline are very strong at ITB and there’s an impressive display of camaraderie between all the students and graduates. Many graduates return each year for this tradition, and some continue to participate in the seeing off of the present graduates. As ITB attracts students from all over Indonesia, there are families there from the entire country, some in their traditional folk costumes. The whole thing is quite a spectacle. Once the main speech and chants are through, they will snake their way up the steps at either side of the tunnel – easily the best place to stand – and down the main boulevard of the campus.

Each faculty wear jackets of its own colours – mining engineering, for example, wear red, whilst oceanography wear deep blue and biology wear green. It’s at this point that you’ll also notice people dressed in other outfits. Each year, every faculty chooses a theme for the second part of the procession, the presentations. On the year I was there, there were themes about Mexico, cartoons, the history of flight, Halloween, dreams and the circus, and many more. Bangbang told me that during his time with the chemical engineers they chose, amongst others, Arabian and cowboy themes.

Once you’re done watching the chanting, head down the main boulevard. ITB is usually a beautiful, calm place which feels very European and pleasant compared to the hectic streets of Bandung. When you enter the campus you’re in the “modern” section of the university. Further along is the “transition” section, where old and new architecture is blended with interesting results. Look out for the union building, a controversially modern design in the “old” section of the university which won a national design competition. Most of the other buildings in this area were constructed by the Dutch in the first half of the 20th Century – stylistically, they feature steep roofs and look much more European than other buildings in Bandung. Stretching down the middle of one section is a long trough leading to a fountain. The base of the fountain is a mosaic of a map of Indonesia, whilst the trough is lined with the music for the Indonesian national anthem.

Past the other university gates, at either side of the boulevard, there are two open spaces where the procession for each faculty will stop. They will have been chanting and marching all the way through the university, so you would think you would hear them approach. Not so. Each faculty performs a presentation with music, dance and theatre, based on the theme they have selected. These range from the informative (the aerospace engineers performing the history of flight) through the melodramatic (a street dance-off between Mafia and Triads, performed by the geography department) to the downright bizarre (some kind of mythical battle, performed by the metallurgical engineers). It’s very strange, but top quality entertainment. Stand on the granite ledge in the middle for the best view – it alternates sides, so you have to keep turning around. It can be tiring on your feet as the ground is stupidly hard and you don’t need to move around much. The place is very busy but feels very safe – everyone there is wishing their fellow graduates well. It’s still probably a good idea to keep your wits about you though.

After the presentation there is more solidarity chanting that can feel like football firms at time, but it’s all in good spirits. The main student body will then wish the graduating students good luck, and there’ll be applause and shouting and drum-banging. By that time the faculty on the other side will have set up and be ready to start, so turn around and the whole thing starts again.

It may sound weird, but the whole experience is a lot of fun, and you can be guaranteed to be the only Westerner there. It’s a very popular thing for Bandung residents to do too, so if you brave this, you’re truly getting into the Bandung spirit.