Seats will be assigned for commencement on May 6
(The Beacon)
By Sarah Hansell, Staff Writer -- hansell14@up.edu
This year's graduating seniors will receive five tickets for the commencement ceremony, a decrease from last year, where students were given six tickets.
There will also be assigned seating.
"If someone wants another seat they're going to have to get a ticket from one of their friends who is not bringing additional family members," Associate Director of University Events Billy McWood said.
The size of the graduating class sparked the changes, according to McWood.
Approximately 610 undergraduate degrees were handed out last spring, though this does not include students who were awarded degrees in the fall or summer, who are also able to attend the ceremony. So far 635 undergraduate students have applied to graduate this spring, according to Graduation and Degree Audit Coordinator Fr. Jeffrey Allison.
"There's nothing we can do about it," McWood said. "There're many seniors with large families and unfortunately every senior is in the same boat."
Because of the ticket limit, some seniors will be unable to invite everyone they want to the ceremony.
"It stresses me out because I have two choices, between my grandparents and my siblings, and other people who have supported me through my academic journey," senior Kelsey Kiser said. "Some of those people who have supported me won't be able to see me walk down the stage."
The commencement ceremony is a very important moment for some families, who may be unable to attend because of the ticket limit.
"It's kind of that dichotomy where understandably it needs to be in place," senior Theresa Cutter said. "But for some families, this is a really momentous moment."
The Chiles Center, however, cannot accommodate more people than the five tickets allow, according to McWood.
"We don't want to eliminate families," McWood said. "Just the size of the building can't accommodate full families, unfortunately."
Because there will not be any extra tickets available besides those of other seniors who have extra, many students have no other option but to cut down their list of people to invite to the ceremony.
"It'd be better if they had some extras so that some people could request extras," senior Kelsey Reavis said.
The assigned seating will alleviate long lines of family and friends waiting to obtain seating at the Chiles Center.
"People can just get right in," McWood said. "They can come 20 minutes before if they want."
However, some people come early in order to have seats near the front.
"Maybe people could request seats ahead of time for handicapped or elderly guests to be near the front," Reavis said.
How students will receive their tickets has not yet been specified.
It is unclear how the ticket limit will be affected for the classes of 2014 and 2015, which are larger than this year's senior class.
Director of Institutional Research Karen Nelson estimates that even next year's graduating class will have 30 more students than this year's.
"Next year we're going to have to see," McWood said.
