Mace

The Mace, symbol of authority, is carried by a Brown professor who is also an alumnus. The Brown University mace, a gift of Mrs. George St. John Sheffield in 1928, is 44 inches long. It was manufactured by the Gorham Company, designed by Robert A. Hall and modeled by Hugo O. Carlborg. The double urn at the top of the staff with the seal of the University surrounded by laurel leaves is topped by a ball and an eagle. On the back of the seal are two inscriptions from the Charter, relating to the education of the rising generation of students and to the lack of religious tests. The head of the mace is supported by dolphins. On the head are the coats-of-arms of Great Britain and the United States, the seal of the Colony of Rhode Island, the seal of the State of Rhode Island, and the two older seals of Brown University. Eagles’ heads project above the seals. On the staff are scallops and a ribbon on which were originally engraved the names of the Brown presidents from James Manning through William Herbert Perry Faunce. The names of later presidents have been added. On the expansion below the head of the mace are the names of distinguished alumni Henry Wheaton, Adoniram Judson, William Learned Marcy, Horace Mann, Samuel Gridley Howe, Elisha Bartlett, James Burrill Angell, Alexander Lyman Holley, Richard Olney, John Hay, and Sam Walter Foss. The name of Charles Evans Hughes 1881 was added at a later date.

Bearers of the mace have included Leighton T. Bohl ’13, Benjamin W. Brown ’19, George E. Downing, A.M. ad eundem, Zenas R. Bliss ’18, Arlan R. Coolidge ’24, William R. Benford ’27, Roderick M. Chisholm ’38, Philip J. Bray ’48, Bruce E. Donovan ’59. Rosemary Pierrel Sorrentino ’53 Ph.D., Michael Harper, A.M. ad eundem, and James W. Head, ’69 Ph.D.

The chief marshal of the medical school procession carries the Medical School marching staff, which was designed and executed by Merlin Szosz of the Rhode Island School of Design faculty. The staff, two feet long and made of curly maple and silver-plate over bronze, has a caduceus of two snakes cast in silver on a maple rod, on which is engraved “Brown Medical Association / Commencement Marching Staff / Given May 26, 1985.” The gift by the Brown University Medical Association on its tenth anniversary was made possible by a donation of William L. Jenney ’43.