Graduation fiasco tarnishes
UH
Mary B. Carradine
You'd be hard-pressed to forget this week
is the University's 75th anniversary.
Activities and celebrations will be held
every day this week in honor of the milestone, and with good reason. Our
University has so much to be proud
of—it's a diverse academic institution
where traditional and non-traditional students can further their education
at a reasonable price.
Eventually, these students earn the right
to graduate and bask in the spotlight that is the college commencement
ceremony in May. Families and
friends will flock to said ceremony and
shower their graduates with praise and applause. Perhaps your parents,
siblings, grandparents, significant
others and close friends will attend,
all to celebrate your academic triumph ....
But not this year. Depending on your college,
this year you should plan on shaving that list down to three. Three people,
because that's all you're getting
if you plan on walking in your college's
ceremony. Your other option is to be herded through Hofheinz Pavilion in
an all-but-personal ceremony.
Unlike the 75th anniversary celebrations,
this has been President Arthur K. Smith's best-kept secret. Perhaps, since
we didn't know about it until April,
nothing can be done.
An explanation? The leaders of our University
believe that in order to celebrate the 75th commencement in grandiose fashion,
all of the ceremonies
should be held on one day, May 11, as
opposed to years past, when ceremonies had been spread throughout the weekend.
That way, many colleges
could hold their commencements in Hofheinz
Pavilion or the other larger venues on campus, thus not limiting the number
of guests per graduate.
How do you ask a college graduate, who
has worked so hard to achieve this pinnacle, to choose only three people
to share his or her graduation
ceremony with? Luckily, my choice will
be easy, since I have one sister, two parents and no surviving grandparents.
But for other students, there are grandparents,
multiple brothers and sisters, spouses and even children to choose from.
And alas, I'm sure the
attendees of my college commencement will
have a grand time at the ceremony while stuffed in the Houston Room.
Holding a glorious commencement ceremony
is a way to advertise the University. Younger brothers, sisters or cousins
could attend, look around and
hope to follow in their graduate's footsteps
as a UH alum.
Also, perhaps sending graduates off in
a blaze of glory will make them more likely to financially contribute to
the University's coffers after paying off killer
student loans. All in all, the graduates
and the University are coming up empty, thanks to this stunt.
It's the 75th anniversary. You'd think
the University would handle this one properly, as opposed to other follies
from last semester like the University of
Texas bleacher fiasco or not canceling
class on Sept. 11 but on the Friday after instead.
We're being told that this is a one-time
event and a special case. I suppose knowing this will never happen again
is supposed to make the Class of
2002 forget grandpa can't watch it shake
the dean's hand, but it doesn't. It only leaves me bitter and embarrassed
that someone in the administration
actually thought this was an acceptable
idea.
The University has so much going in its
favor: a beautiful campus in an urban setting, nationally renowned academic
programs and professors, strong
growth, diversity and much more. It's
just shameful that when it really counts, the administration obviously
falters.
