Spring Break
Graduation Ticket System Raises Ire
CLAS Students Upset With Fewer Passes Than Before
Kala Kachmar
Issue date: 5/1/08 Section: News
Gampel Pavilion will be extra-full next week during the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) commencement ceremony.
This year, an increased number of CLAS undergraduates will be participating in the commencement ceremony, according to Michael Darre, university marshal and chair of the commencement committee. In addition, students from December's commencement, which was canceled because of snow, will be joining the May ceremony.
Students graduating from CLAS this May are only receiving four graduation tickets, compared to the five tickets each student got last year, according to Darre.
Those with extra tickets are using HuskyCT and Facebook to sell them to students in need.
In addition, the college set up a Web site that students can use to request more tickets from CLAS, according to Douglas Hamilton, associate dean of CLAS.
The college is working hard to accommodate all requests, Hamilton said. If CLAS gave students five tickets like they did last year, the fire marshall would close down Gampel.
"Most schools accommodate their students' families by holding commencement at their football stadiums," Darre said. "We don't have to luxury of having our football field on our main campus."
Hamilton said the school had no choice other than to combine the December and May graduations.
"Those students are just as important to us as those [graduating] in May," he said.
Approximately 1,500 students out of 2,200 eligible undergraduates graduating CLAS students will participate in the ceremony on May 11, according to Hamilton. Last May, 2,197 students earned a bachelor's degree from CLAS.
"I don't have a problem with four tickets," said Caroline Platkiewicz, an 8th-semester political science and international relations double major. "For the size of the college, it's a fair number."
This May, each school and college is holding its own ceremony. The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources allows its graduating seniors up to six tickets, the School of Business gets up to eight tickets, the Neag School of Education seven, the School of Fine Arts six and the School of Engineering five, according to UConn's commencement Web site. The School of Nursing is distributing tickets in its own way.
"It's hard to be personalized like other schools when we are graduating 1,500 students," Hamilton said. "But we do have the advantage of being able to attract someone like Rebecca Lobo as our commencement speaker."
Randy Serrano, an 8th-semester journalism and political science double major, needs a total of 12 tickets for his family members flying in from Miami, Phoenix, Atlanta and Costa Rica.
Serrano asked friends who are graduating with dual degrees for extra CLAS tickets that were not being used.
"I think the December grads should have had their own ceremony," Serrano said. "We're going to have a packed house because of it."
Contact Kala Kachmar at
Kala.Kachmar@UConn.edu.
This year, an increased number of CLAS undergraduates will be participating in the commencement ceremony, according to Michael Darre, university marshal and chair of the commencement committee. In addition, students from December's commencement, which was canceled because of snow, will be joining the May ceremony.
Students graduating from CLAS this May are only receiving four graduation tickets, compared to the five tickets each student got last year, according to Darre.
Those with extra tickets are using HuskyCT and Facebook to sell them to students in need.
In addition, the college set up a Web site that students can use to request more tickets from CLAS, according to Douglas Hamilton, associate dean of CLAS.
The college is working hard to accommodate all requests, Hamilton said. If CLAS gave students five tickets like they did last year, the fire marshall would close down Gampel.
"Most schools accommodate their students' families by holding commencement at their football stadiums," Darre said. "We don't have to luxury of having our football field on our main campus."
Hamilton said the school had no choice other than to combine the December and May graduations.
"Those students are just as important to us as those [graduating] in May," he said.
Approximately 1,500 students out of 2,200 eligible undergraduates graduating CLAS students will participate in the ceremony on May 11, according to Hamilton. Last May, 2,197 students earned a bachelor's degree from CLAS.
"I don't have a problem with four tickets," said Caroline Platkiewicz, an 8th-semester political science and international relations double major. "For the size of the college, it's a fair number."
This May, each school and college is holding its own ceremony. The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources allows its graduating seniors up to six tickets, the School of Business gets up to eight tickets, the Neag School of Education seven, the School of Fine Arts six and the School of Engineering five, according to UConn's commencement Web site. The School of Nursing is distributing tickets in its own way.
"It's hard to be personalized like other schools when we are graduating 1,500 students," Hamilton said. "But we do have the advantage of being able to attract someone like Rebecca Lobo as our commencement speaker."
Randy Serrano, an 8th-semester journalism and political science double major, needs a total of 12 tickets for his family members flying in from Miami, Phoenix, Atlanta and Costa Rica.
Serrano asked friends who are graduating with dual degrees for extra CLAS tickets that were not being used.
"I think the December grads should have had their own ceremony," Serrano said. "We're going to have a packed house because of it."
Contact Kala Kachmar at
Kala.Kachmar@UConn.edu.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Rick
posted 5/01/08 @ 1:31 PM EST
The headline says, "Graduation Ticket System Raises Ire." But I don't get any sense of "ire" from the story. It sounds like the problem is well understood and people are on top of it. (Continued…)
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