No more empty folders
Graduation ceremonies may take on a new feel after President Kermit L. Hall’s proposal Thursday.
Hall told the Associated Students of Utah State University Executive Council he was looking to give a greater degree of attention to the undergraduate student population and enhance enthusiasm.
“[Now] you’re one person, dressed in black, who stands up and sits down,” he said. “If [commencement] stays the way it is, you’ll get no [university-wide] recognition at all.”
Hall proposed all graduates attend a ceremony in the Spectrum, where they will walk to the center in lines with their respective colleges. They will shake hands with administrators and faculty and receive their diplomas. About five lines will be moving simultaneously. In the past, students received this recognition during individual college ceremonies, though their diplomas were mailed to them in the following months.
“If you go to your college graduation now, you will receive, at best, an empty folder,” he said.
Hall said he feels since students are graduating from the university, not a college, they should receive their diplomas at a university ceremony.
Under the president’s proposal, graduates’ names will not be read aloud.
“[Reading] 2,800 names – that doesn’t strike me as a good use of anybody’s time,” Hall said.
The focus will be on the presenting of diplomas.
A few members of ASUSU expressed concern that if students’ names aren’t read, they won’t receive the recognition they deserve.
Lindsay Lyman, ASUSU Activities vice president, said she values the thought of having her name read aloud. She said she wants the university to notice her, in front of her family, for “that two seconds.”
John Jacklin, ASUSU Engineering senator, asked the president whether the proposed changes will prohibit individual colleges from holding additional ceremonies or receptions, where names can be read aloud.
Hall said no.
Colleges will be left to make their own decisions as to how they should celebrate graduation aside from the university affair, he said.
Noelle Cockett, dean for the College of Agriculture, said the proposal allows two opportunities for celebration – one at the university level and another at the college level.
Ericka Ensign, ASUSU Academics vice president, said the proposal is a message for college deans to step up and make graduation worthwhile on their level.
Under the proposal, honorary degrees, including valedictorian awards, will be given at a special reception the night before commencement. Hall said this will give recipients a chance to speak in a more private, manageable environment, while not taking time out of the university ceremony.
Commencement for graduate students will occur the day before the undergraduate ceremony.
Thomas Kent, dean for the School of Graduate Studies, said this is a “very wise move.”
Separating graduates from undergraduates will help the image of the university and benefit graduate students, he said.
Craig Petersen, vice president for Student Services, said the proposed changes will allow all faculty to attend the university ceremony, instead of just a college ceremony. He said he has been embarrassed in the past when there have been only 110 of 790 faculty present.
Other facets of the proposal include the following:
• There will still be a procession to the Spectrum.
• The stage will be moved to the center of Spectrum seating, freeing about 2,000 seats.
• Each graduate might be able to have up to 5 guests.
• Audience members can watch the event on the new scoreboard if they desire.
• The USU orchestra or band will play upbeat music throughout the presentation of diplomas.
• There will be a student speaker, along with the commencement speaker, instead of an alumnus.
• The commencement dinner will not be held.
College deans present at the meeting seemed to favor the proposed changes.
Gerry Giordano, dean of the College of Education, spoke positively about the plan.
“I promise you that we will not decrease the level of personality of those ceremonies,” he said. “I think we can even increase it.”
Hall said the changes will create a “very large, spontaneous, heart-felt celebration” that credits the university as a whole.
“In the end, what Utah State is all about – what it puts first – is academics,” he said.
The president gave the ASUSU Executive Council about a week to give him feedback.
“We need to get going,” he said.
Students who wish to have their voices heard on this issue should contact their ASUSU representatives.
-amarie@cc.usu.edu