A Tradition Carried Forward: Ceremonial Mace Marks 20-Year Tradition at South Dakota Mines Commencement
For two decades, the South Dakota Mines ceremonial mace has marked the start of commencement, carried by the faculty chair as part of the academic procession. The mace, an enduring symbol of the university’s distinctive identity and mission, will once again be on display during Mines 192nd commencement ceremony on Saturday at 9 a.m. in the Fine Arts Theatre at The Monument in Rapid City.
The use of a ceremonial mace in higher education dates back to medieval university tradition, where it was carried by a sergeant-at-arms to “guard” the university president.
At Mines, however, the mace has come to represent much more. The centuries-old tradition has been reimagined to reflect the university’s unique identity, academic mission and deep connections to the Black Hills.
Created 20 years ago through a collaborative community effort, the Mines first ceremonial
mace was
designed to represent the breadth of the university’s disciplines using local materials
and craftsmanship.
Deborah Mitchell, associate professor emerita of humanities at Mines, led the design, working closely with Ryan Koontz, Ph.D., integrated manufacturing specialist for CAMP, and Doug Napier, local artist and jeweler. Conversations about creating the mace began during preparations for the 2004 inauguration of Mines President Charles Pierce Ruch, who served from 2003 to 2008.
“I went to work with some sketches, thinking about how I could integrate some of the departments with materials from the Hills,” Mitchell said. She reached out to Napier, a then a jeweler at Landstrom’s, and Koontz to help bring the concept to life.
The finished design incorporates local materials and symbolic elements that represent the university’s diverse disciplines. The handle, crafted from a fossil, reflects Mines’ legacy in paleontology. A rose-pink quartz sphere encased in the symbol of an atom represents geology and physics, while silver and gold elements honor the university’s mining heritage. A laurel leaf crown fashioned from Black Hills Gold signifies honor, distinction and success.
Koontz located the university seal in digital form and created a computer-aided design for the bronze top of the mace. “A lot of time was spent to make sure the brass pieces we were working to ensure it would not be marred or scratched up,” he said.
Today, the mace stands as a tangible link between past and present, a tradition carried forward and a point of pride for all who helped bring it to life.
“I don’t know if I realized how important it would be at the time,” Koontz said of being part of the project. “But it is great to be part of something that is so long-lasting and to look back and say, ‘Wow, this is significant for South Dakota Mines’.”
Click here to watch a video on the collaborative effort that created the ceremonial mace.