The Commencement Committee has two options for the Class of 2012 graduation, and students are leaning toward the option of a two-day ceremony.
Instead of the usual Parents Reception on Saturday, the first proposed option suggests speeches from President John Lahey, the chosen keynote speaker and the student body president in an optional ceremony on the Quad. Students wouldn’t need to wear their caps and gowns. On Sunday, the entire class would graduate together in one ceremony where students would sit and receive their diplomas alphabetically by school.
The second proposed plan includes four separate ceremonies for each school beginning at 9 a.m. with the last ceremony scheduled for 6 p.m. There would be no major commencement speaker. Instead, a localized speaker would be chosen relevant to each school.
The Class of 2012 cabinet traveled to the Crescent in the past two weeks asking students their preferred option.
“The large majority of students preferred option one,” Class of 2012 President Andrew McDermott said. “But who knows how it’s going to end up because this is essentially the student recommendation. If the [Commencement Committee] feels option two is going to be easier, they could just as easily go with option two.”
McDermott said the SGA class cabinet asked 268 juniors and 226 of them preferred option one, or about 84 percent of the total students polled. The cabinet also voted seven to one in favor of option one.
The Class of 2010 graduation ceremony lasted approximately four hours with all the speakers. Honorary degrees were also handed out with undergraduate diplomas.
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This wouldn’t work with the Class of 2012, according to McDermott. With additional students, plus the extra guests, the ceremony will last too long, and the space is too small to accommodate any more people.
These options don’t include the possibility of rain, in which case the university is preparing two separate ceremonies at the TD Bank Sports Center. However, nothing is official in that regard.
The Commencement Committee met with Lahey on Monday regarding plans for the ceremony. The results of the meeting went undisclosed as of the print deadline.
“Whatever the decision comes out [to be], people have to remember all the factors that are going into it from a facilities standpoint, a traffic standpoint and from a family standpoint,” McDermott said.
antoinette koscinski • Jun 20, 2011 at 6:35 am
we are the grandparentsof a graduating student and want to attend the cermony inside or outside and would like to know the date so we can make travel arrangement!!!!!!!!!!!!