Commencement ceremonies set to take place
By Valerie Velikaya
The college is trying something new: dividing graduation up into two ceremonies.
This year, the school is breaking away from its traditional singular ceremony, converting to two separate ceremonies on May 16 for the sake of granting easier access through the Gymnasium, where the graduations will take place, while providing more room for the family and friends of the graduating student.
“Our crowds for graduation have been so large with one ceremony that we’ve needed to kind of control the crowd a little better,” said Pam Vassar, assistant dean of Student Life.
“So we’re moving to two. In the previous years, we have set up overflow seating down in the field house of the gym, and last year we had 1,000 seats and overflow seating in all of them were full. There were even people standing.”
This year, the college is striving to accommodate everyone who will be in attendance by dividing the crowd up into a “manageable size.”
Students will be separated by their earned degree or certificate; those who have earned an associate of applied science will receive their diplomas at 4 p.m. in the Gymnasium, whereas students who have earned an associate of arts, an associate of science or an associate of general studies degree will take part in the 7:30 p.m. ceremony.
“We’ll still have overflow seating because we don’t know exactly what to expect. You would hope that you’re dividing your crowd closely in half and so, you know, your crowd would be maybe half as large as it’s been in the past in each ceremony,” said Vassar, “but we don’t know that for a fact so we’re still setting some 600 chairs and overflow seating so that if we need it, it’s there, but the ideal situation would be that we would have plenty of space for everyone in the facility.”
The Student Life office is working diligently to develop a memorable commemoration for the college’s hard-working graduating students, organizing the “setup of the space, how we precede students in, how faculty and staff come into the facility. We organize getting faculty and staff their regalia, which is their cap, their gown, their hoods, their tassels – that sort of thing,” said Vassar.
Outgoing Student Senate president, Elliot Rogers, will be the voice of his peers at this year’s graduation.
“I wasn’t able to attend the ceremonies last year,” said Rogers, “so this will be a largely new experience for me.”
Students will be separated into two groups. Jerry Cook, chair of the Board of Trustees, will present his speech to the congregation, followed by Rogers.
“I’m going to give my wonderfully arousing speech, and eventually, you know, I might get done within a reasonable time,” said Rogers.
Rogers, after serving as Student Senate president for a year, is excited for the conclusion of the academic year.
“[Graduation] will be a day when so much of this compression is just released,” he said, “and that’s what I’m going to be talking about […] how we are achieving a goal today, and if I’m able to do that this really is a symbol to me of letting so much of it go.”
The Student Senate president will attend both ceremonies, located in the upper gym. After he addresses the audience, the graduating students will take the stage.
“They’re going to herd us into two lines and they’re going to set us up so we can all get seated, you know, on the chairs on the floor, and we’re going to have spectators, visitors, parents – anyone and their brother, sitting [on] bleachers and whatnot,” said Rogers.
After the speeches, students will “funnel” into one line where they’ll receive their diplomas or certificates.
Overall, the goal of Student Life is to leave students confident in themselves.
“We congratulate the students on their accomplishment because it’s a great accomplishment to walk across that stage and receive your diploma and shake hands and be recognized for a really great achievement,” Vassar said.
Contact Valerie Velikaya, news editor, at vvelikay@jccc.edu.