Since the first class entering NISNS in 1899 included some students who already had college credits, the first to earn their two-year teaching degrees graduated the following year in 1900. The degrees that day were awarded in alphabetical order, the first being given to Jennie Bertram of Idaho Falls, Idaho. Thirteen women and three men received their degrees that day.

In Northern’s early days, Commencement was a week-long affair, involving both campus and community. Several days prior to graduation, students, faculty, staff and community members gathered in the Altgeld Auditorium for what was called a baccalaureate service. Like so many of the events presided over by President Cook, the baccalaureate was replete with religious references, including the reading of Scripture and singing of hymns. In writing about each year’s service, the Daily-Chronicle routinely referred to Cook’s remarks as a sermon.

Commencement itself was always held on a Thursday morning. For several years, it included the reading of the “senior theses” that all students had to write. Later, when those readings were replaced by guest speakers, some privately complained that the change was not an improvement. Each graduating class composed and performed its own song, and some classes purchased memorials for their alma mater.

Closing out the first Commencement would have been the popular President’s Reception at Cook’s spacious home on College Avenue, where graduates drank tea from dainty china cups and listened to music by the school orchestra.

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