Institute President G.P. “Bud” Peterson addressed UHR on Tuesday, Oct. 2, to further discuss Tech’s commencement changes. A major concern is the new ticketing policy, which will restrict the number of visitors per student.
In addition, Peterson gave reasons as to why McCamish Pavilion was the site chosen for this fall’s commencement ceremony, as well as a possible site for spring.
“I was more concerned at the move to a ticketing system…It was stated that the new Pavilion has not reduced in seating numbers and its cheaper to have the ceremony on campus… Why move to this new inconvenient way of doing things?” said Jade Sims, a fifth-year PSYCH major.
Although the primary point of discussion was the ticketing policy, the cancelling of summer commencement, which will save the Institute around $80,000 to accommodate the $100 million cut in state funding this year, also created a stir among a few students in attendance.
“I was severely disappointed when [Peterson] didn’t even address summer commencement until asked about it during the very last student question. As summer 2013 graduates, we already feel ignored. He confirmed that we are,“ said Jordan Rowley, a fifth-year ENVE major.
“He used a rough estimation of the number of students that would be affected by the cancellation of the summer ceremony, stating that only about a third of the students would be affected by moving it to Fall. As a student in that demographic, it felt like a dismissal,” said Adrianna Carter, a fourth-year BMED major.