A graduate oddly seen to be humble (5)
I believe the answer is:
abase
'humble' is the definition.
('abase' can be a synonym of 'humble')
'a graduate oddly seen' is the wordplay.
'graduate' becomes 'ba'.
'oddly' indicates alternate letters.
The alternating letters of 'seen' are 'se'.
'a'+'ba'+'se'='ABASE'
'to be' is the link.
(Other definitions for abase that I've seen before include "what 11 [REPRIMANDS] are meant to do" , "Cast down" , "Belittle, degrade" , "Humiliate" , "Degrade (oneself)" .)