The Spectator The independent student newspaper of Valdosta State University
By now, most students are probably aware that the school administration has changed the graduation lineup for Spring 2016.
According to the new schedule, all graduations will be held on one day—Saturday, May 7. The schedule change is opposed to the lineup VSU has had in the past, where the first set of graduation ceremonies are held on Friday evening, and the remaining ceremonies follow on Saturday.
Although it has not been confirmed if each student will have to attend two separate ceremonies—a convocation for their respective college and a commencement ceremony for the entire graduating class—one thing is certain: students are not happy about this change.
As an editorial staff, we feel like this change was not in the best interest of the students. Some students have waited more than 22 years for this moment, and the possibility that any plans that have already been made may need to be altered or even eliminated is disappointing.
Graduation should be intimate and personal, and this new setup diminishes both of those characteristics. Now, there will be even more graduates at one ceremony, which makes it far from intimate. Moreover, if there are more graduates in one ceremony, more guests will be in attendance as well. This runs the risk of there not being enough space for family members and friends, or it could mean that there may be a limit to how many guests each graduate can invite. Of course, this could be a huge problem for students who have large families.
Our staff agrees that if something isn’t broken, don’t fix it. If there are certain reasons that we need to have only one commencement ceremony, then our interim president needs to make those reasons clear to us. It doesn’t make sense that a new schedule is put on the VSU website or that a statement has been made via Facebook, but we haven’t been given any explanation as to why this day that we’ve waited so long for is being changed and possibly ruined.
It’s unbelievable that an event that is supposed to be all about honoring graduates was changed without even getting our opinion.
Not only are students ill about the recent changes, everyone is extremely confused. The entire student body deserves a clear, in-depth explanation about the events that will take place on May 7 and why it has been decided.
We’ve all put a lot of time, energy, and money into this institution. It is not too much to ask for one day—our day, to be perfect.
I have beent old the graduation will be held outside in the football stadium. The individual convocations will be located in various venues including outside on the front lawn. I hear the reason for this is because the President doesn’t want to have to be at the scool Friday night and all day Saturday for the graduation ceremonies the way it used to be.