The Lees' gift became apparent moments after the ceremony ended at 11:30 a.m. The graduates suddenly began sporting leis made entirely of exquisite small purple orchids strung together. The Lees had transported 130 of the live floral necklaces in their carryon luggage to present to each of their son's classmates and tutors.

"Ah, you're the man with the leis," said Westminster native Rachael Noel Boyce.

Patting her new necklace, she said she planned to pay off some of her student loans before heading to Ottawa to attend Le Cordon Bleu, a top culinary school.

The seniors listed hometowns in 27 states; 17 are from Maryland. One senior hailed from Tokyo; another from Bombay, India. Twenty-two students, including five from Maryland, earned their master's of arts degree in liberal arts.

Ninety minutes earlier, the Carrollton Brass Quintet was warming up on the lawn under chilly gray skies. Each gust of wind rustled the leaves of the old trees that stand in a ring around lawn, renewing fears of rain.

Inside McDowell's Great Hall, students and tutors scurried around looking for their spot.

"Seniors are in alphabetical order and faculty is by seniority," said Tutor David Townsend, husband of former Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.

Dressed in pink academic robes topped with a lush purple velvet beret, Mr. Townsend noted he'd attended nearly every graduation since 1974. His robe signified he was a Harvard graduate.

Mr. Townsend and fellow Tutor Pamela Kraus were responsible for "hooding" each graduate during the commencement. The two draped a black and orange academic hood atop each new graduate's plain black robes.

"It's a great honor," he said.

Nearby were tutors Curtis Wilson and Elliott Zuckerman.

"I started teaching here during the 1948-49 school year," said Mr. Wilson. "I missed the first graduation because I was overwhelmed with emotion. I like seeing all the young people and reading their senior essays and imagining what they're feeling."

Mr. Zuckerman adjusted his aging robe and hood.

"I think it's somewhat distinguished to be tattered," the Columbia University graduate said, fingering the torn neckline.

A teacher at St. John's since 1961, he missed commencement ceremonies only when he was on sabbatical. And he said he wasn't worried about the weather this year.

"We've only had to sit outdoors in the rain once, Mr. Zuckerman said. "My mortarboard ended up U-shaped. So they let me buy a beret."

Senior Gregory Singer, 23, of Annapolis found his spot in the lineup.

Originally from Howard County, Mr. Singer became an Annapolis resident after his brother, Daniel, entered the Naval Academy Class of 2003. A confirmed landlubber, he landed a job as a deckhand aboard the Schooner Woodwind five years ago.

His junior year, Mr. Singer lived aboard La Paz, a 29-foot sailboat he purchased and moored in Back Creek.

"By accident I got on St. John's sailing team, and one thing led to another," he said.

He took a year off to work on a ship in the Caribbean.

"I took my certification over spring break," he said. "I'm going for my 100-ton master's or captain certification from the Coast Guard. I've taken a series of tests and had to have 720 days at sea. I'll get that this summer."

He recently purchased another vessel with classmate Ian Hanover, the 2008 Croquet Team imperial wicket.

His goal is to work aboard the schooner Roseway, a tall ship in the U.S. Virgin Islands, part of the nonprofit World Ocean School.

Looking back, "The nice thing about St. John's is they're the 400 friendliest people in the whole world," Mr. Singer said.

Instead of warm-weather wear, many in the crowd were shivering in suits, sports jackets and raincoats.

Promptly at 10:30 a.m., the double-file procession exited McDowell Hall and paraded casually down the path toward College Avenue. It turned at the World War I Memorial, heading for the rows of reserved seats. Sporting a large silver medallion around his neck, St. John's President Christopher B. Nelson, in flowing purple and black robes edged with silver, brought up the rear.

The graduating class filled six rows. One male wore a red kilt under his gown. Some of the women sported trendy stilettos that sunk into the lawn; a couple were bare-toed in flip-flops.

"This is the beginning of a lifetime of doing good things," Mr. Nelson told the students before handing out academic prizes and awards.

The two athletic awards - special blazers in red plastic garment bags - were given to Charles Henry Fleming of Gaithersburg and Hayley Virginia Thompson of Seattle. Mr. Fleming's sister, Anne Seaver Fleming, was also among the graduates.

Bruce Cole, chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities delivered the six-minute commencement speech.

He joked that having put his own two children through college, "I know how your parents are feeling. It feels great to write that last tuition check."

He reminded the students "that the liberal arts are not luxuries for the rich, nor are they amusements for idle moments, but rather, ever-renewing gifts that will enlighten and sustain them in their lives after school."

He said an education at St. John's is unique.

"At this college, you haven't acquired knowledge in the form of textbooks and lectures, pre-packaged for easy consumption like a frozen TV dinner," Mr. Cole said. "And through this experience, you have achieved a great freedom: The freedom that comes from thinking for yourself, a freedom that is the basis for all liberty."

Mr. Cole said their liberal-arts education would be welcomed by employers "desperate for employees who can think critically, write a coherent sentence and challenge preconceived notions.

"St. John's has prepared you to be a good citizen at a time your country needs you the most," Mr. Cole said.

Then one-by-one, the students walked across the stage to be hooded and receive their scrolled diploma. As the last grad left the stage, dozens of mortarboards flew skyward in celebration.

Wendi Winters is a freelance writer living on the Broadneck Peninsula.