Rensselaer’s ninety-fourth commencement exercises were held on Wednesday May 1, 1918 in the ’87 Gymnasium. Bachelor degrees awarded included 30 in Civil Engineering, 22 in Electrical Engineering, 11 in Mechanical Engineering, and 8 in Chemical Engineering.

The Institute’s ninety-third commencement took place on Wednesday, June 13, 1917 in the ’87 Gymnasium. Eighty-nine students received bachelor’s degrees: 53 in Civil Engineering, 19 in Electrical Engineering, 12 in Mechanical Engineering, and 5 in Chemical Engineering.

In our efforts to bridge the gap between the past and present, we share with the Class of 2015 a look back 100 years to Wednesday, June 16, 1915, when Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute graduated 87 men, one of the largest classes on record at that time for the Institute.

Rendering of the proposed gymnasium as it appeared in the 1912 Transit. As we noted in our Commencement 1912 post, the ’87 Gymnasium was dedicated in June 1912.

Rensselaer’s 86th annual commencement exercises were held in the Troy Music Hall on Wednesday June 12, 1912. Institute President Palmer C. Ricketts presented diplomas to 118 graduating seniors. The Class of 1912 was the largest class to date to graduate from the Institute.

The Rensselaer Pup has some wonderful examples of graphic design and student art from the first half of the 20th century.  As a student-generated humor magazine it possesses some questionable content as well as beautiful covers.  Often the images from the covers play toward other popular magazines or comics of the time.&nbs

For several decades a hop (informal dance) was held right after commencement.  The hop was sponsored by the junior class in honor of the graduating seniors and it was typically held at a hall