In a reverse of course, the University announced it will keep the main Commencement ceremony on the University Green, according to a Jan. 16 UVM Today update.
The main ceremony was originally slated to be phased out as part of a revamping of Commencement Weekend, according to an Oct. 14 Cynic article.
The plans also created individual ceremonies for each college, which will still be held at the Champlain Valley Expo in Essex Junction, Vt., according to the UVM Today update.
Kelly O’Malley, senior coordinator of presidential events and protocol, said her department considered a wide range of possibilities before landing on the final plan.
“Planning for Commencement is always a fluid process that involves the consideration of many logistical scenarios and incorporates input from throughout our UVM community,” she stated in a Jan. 24 email to the Cynic.
The finalized plans stipulate that the main ceremony will take place rain or shine, according to the UVM Today article. In the initial plans, the ceremony was nixed due to concerns about the potential for severe weather disrupting or canceling the outdoor event, O’Malley said.
“We have some really fundamental issues with our Commencement model, and we have for years,” O’Malley said.
In the new format, most graduates are allowed six tickets each for family members or friends who wish to attend their individual college ceremonies, according to the Commencement schedule website. However, graduates in the College of Arts and Sciences will receive four, the website states.
Tickets have never been required for the main ceremony, and this year will be no different, the Commencement schedule website states.
Senior Darren Lombardozzi said he received no formal announcement from the University about Commencement’s move to Essex Junction. Instead, he found out from friends, he said.
“I heard that they were going to move it to the fairgrounds in Essex, but I didn’t hear about it at all from the school,” he said. “It was only through word of mouth by other people.”
O’Malley said the details of the finalized changes to Commencement were released on UVM Today, the University’s digital newsletter. They were also shared on the University’s homepage and social media accounts, she stated in a Jan. 23 email to the Cynic.
“We will not receive a list of students eligible to graduate until the end of February, so general communications about commencement to students and families will not begin until early March from the Academic Ceremonies office,” O’Malley said in the email.
Max Bierden, another graduating senior, said he felt the Commencement plans were disappointing.
“I would really prefer to be on campus when I actually get my diploma,” Bierden said. “I’ve been really looking forward to this for four years.”
Bierden, whose degree is in the College of Arts and Sciences, has a lot of family that he would like to bring to the ceremony, but isn’t allowed to due to the limited number of guests students are allowed to bring, he said.
“I have a lot of family coming up, and I can only get four tickets,” he said. “That’s upsetting because I have probably seven people that I would really like to be there, and having to pick and choose four of them, it’s absurd, it’s ridiculous.”
Senior Kaia Hansen said she understood why they were considering holding the event inside. Last year, she attended Commencement and remembers getting sunburned from being in the heat for too long.
However, Hansen said she would still take the minor inconveniences of an outdoor ceremony over the new venue in Essex Junction.
“I think the Champlain Valley Expo is a little bit stuffy and very dull,” she said. “Having it outside, at least for me, I would find it more enjoyable, and it would feel maybe more special if it was outside and on campus.”
The main ceremony will take place on Sunday, May 18 at 9 a.m. on the University Green, according to the UVM website’s schedule of ceremonies.
