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Pomp and Circumstance: How a British march became an American tradition

Happy graduates in cap and gown
Michigan State University

Commencement season is upon us. MSU is sending new graduates into the world this weekend in East Lansing. The only thing more ubiquitous than caps, gowns, and cameras is a military march written by a British guy in 1901. 

Seriously, why do Americans graduate to a tune that across the Atlantic Ocean essentially has become an unofficial English National Anthem?
 
Current State’s Melissa Benmark explores the song that’s helped “commence” graduates for over a century.
 
 

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