For the seniors at Longwood, change often happens after graduation. This year, however, change begins at graduation.
This is the first time, in my knowledge, that any major change has happened with graduation. I don’t necessarily think that the changes happening with Longwood’s graduation are bad, but it makes me wonder what other changes would be best implemented.
We all know that graduation is typically a one day event. Now, it’s two – the Graduate Commencement Ceremony will be held on Friday, May 10 and the Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony will be held on Saturday, May 11. This is great for those of us who are graduating because with the absence of the graduate students, commencement will go faster. Well, we can hope.
I’ve been to several graduations in Virginia, but ours is one of the only one day graduations for undergraduates. Several of the larger schools offer a two-day graduation – the first day being a huge ceremony for all of the graduate candidates where attendance is optional.
The second day is when the separate colleges perform their own ceremonies. It is not until the second day that names are read and the graduate candidates walk across stages. On the second day, the different colleges have their graduations on different parts of campus. Some may be outside, some may be inside but they all happen separately.
This saves on time, space and everyone’s sanity. I think one of the largest problems with how graduation is held at Longwood is just that it’s only held one day. It’s the way it’s always been done, and Longwood has shown the tendency to not embrace change in how it conducts events happening on campus.
Graduation is not something to be taken lightly. It’s what we’ve all worked toward in our four or more years here. I have counted down the days until I am officially an alumnus. I’m already receiving emails from alumni organizations encouraging me to sign up. This is the day when we are officially “adults.”
I’m not angry with how graduation is run, but I am really irritated with one major aspect: the guest list and seating. I attended graduation my sophomore year, and I was shocked with the amount of people who were watching graduation that didn’t even have ties to anyone graduating.
Of course, this cannot be changed because we are a public institution, but it’s a bit irritating that people who have no ties to the school or the students arrive early and take the seats of those who are family members of students who want to watch their loved ones graduate.
One of my biggest fears is that my parents paid tens of thousands of dollars in order for me to get my degree from Longwood and they may not even be able to sit at my graduation and enjoy themselves because all of the seats are taken.
I do not want my parents to have to stand behind rows of people and barely hear my name called because they cannot find a seat.
I would like to have my parents see me graduate up close and personal because it’s important to them, and it’s important to me. I’m sure it’s important to all of us. I know that even at Radford University – a school that is almost identical in size (land and number of students) has tickets that are required in case of inclement weather, but they also have plenty of room for all of the people who attend graduation as spectators.
I do, however, commend Longwood on its change regarding graduation. I also enjoy the fact that candidates line up by college and degree. It gives great order to the day, and it will also make the day seem like it goes faster.
I believe that all of the graduation candidates for this spring are well deserving of a day that they will never forget, but our parents and kin are also deserving of the same. Being able to have our loved ones watch us walk across the stage is extremely important – but how can Longwood make graduation even better for these family members?
I had thrown around the idea in my head that maybe the students would get five tickets each and that would significantly cut down on the amount of spectators at the ceremony. Or maybe the people who aren’t affiliated with the school or the students would only be allowed to stand in the back.
I’m not sure how that will go over, but there are plenty of other ways that Longwood can even further improve how the largest event in a college student’s career is conducted.
