Michigan Moves Graduation Off-Campus
Reader Comments
Graduation
I would like to express my displeasure at the moving of the graduation ceremonies. If construction is planning to be in April, then why can't they just wait until that weekend is over. It seems to me that such a large construction job will have delays anyway so what is one more weekend? "Upset" is putting it mildly.
moving graduation to EMU
I was really surprised that the graduating students from Michigan were so upset about moving the graduation ceremony to EMU. Doesn't anyone every say "no" to these kids? This means that students will have 8 tickets and not 2! By the time students are seniors, I would have thought they were over the "ga ga" of The Big House. I guess these are the same kids who will have that fabulously big wedding but not think of the marriage...
Waaaaaaaa
All I can say to Michigan students is......Waaaaaaaaaaaaa.....Grow up, seriously. This is ridiculous. By the time you are a senior at The University of Michigan you should be mature enough to not cry, protest or cause such a raucus over this small matter. You are all LUCKY to be invited to have your graudation at The Convocation Center.
Be respectful.
Go Blue!
Michigan Graduation.
I actually am a graduate of The Ohio State University and went through the same problem. The "Shoe" was being renovated in 1999, so the ceremony was moved to the center of campus in what is known as the Oval. Other than being 100 degrees on graduation day and having a speaker that no one could understand, it worked out well for everyone. Although it was not in the Shoe, it was nice to have it on campus and it was also nice to be the first class to graduate in the Oval in many decades. I completely support U of M grads in their displeasure
Sympathy For Michigan Grads
Anyone who fails to feel bad for what these seniors are missing out on, clearly does not understand the tradition and pride that are associated with graduating from an institution like Michigan. Of course, there are fates worse than a graduation being moved out of town, but look at this for what it is.
As a Michigan graduate, my graduation day has a special place in my heart. For many it is a culmination of a journey that represents the transition from youth to adulthood. The memory of walking across campus dressed in a cap and gown with my friends at my side is one I cherish. It allowed us to reflect on the past four years and how we changed as people from the time we arrived on campus until we descended upon The Big House that day. That is something I won't forget. Jumping in the car with Mom & Dad and driving to another University just wouldn't have been the same.
Anyone who holds a fondness for their college years deep in their heart can easily feel for the Michigan seniors who will unfortunately miss out on one of the great traditions of that school.
Don't pretend you know us
Dear Gayle,
Please don't pretend you know me or any other graduating senior at the University of Michigan. Ever since I was little I have dreamed about graduating in the Big House, you didn't know that one, did you? I have worked my butt off for the past four years of my undergraduate career and I don't think it's asking too much to graduate at the Big House. This is the place where thousands before me, including family and friends, have walked the stage to receive their diplomas and sing 'The Victors' for one last time as Michigan students. It's called tradition and it should be upheld.
Perhaps the outrage of the students is misunderstood by those who have never attended the University, or who have already had the luck to graduate at the Big House (or even ON CAMPUS). The students bear no ill will toward Eastern Michigan and think the offer of the stadium is very kind. Aside from immediate "heat of the moment" reactions the students are responding appropriately to a situation which means very much to them (and SHOULD). For Gayle and others, this isn't about pampered whining - students want to graduate on their own campus. As a student here on campus I can say most students don't care if we don't get more than 2 tickets or that our family sits indoors and watches a live video of the graduation. If we still can graduate in the stadium, we'd like to - no matter if any part of it is an eyesore, if we have to use porta potties because the bathrooms are closed, or if we have to have backup generators for electricity. I don't think that kind of pride and desire to graduate on campus is anything of which to be ashamed or mocked. It's our place, and at the University of Michigan our PLACE is ON CAMPUS and our PLACE is the Big House. These things mean more to us than many understand. The outrage students are showing is directed at the administration and the perceived (or real) lack of planning and forethought that brought this about. The mass mobilization of the students is because we think that with three months advance notice we can change things if we act quickly. I hope alumni, parents, friends, and others will join in.
I started at U-M with Band Week on Elbel Field in August, 1995. On my very first day, I met the person who shortly became and is still now my best friend, at Revelli Hall. At the start of September, 1996, I met the woman who three years later would become my wife, also at Revelli Hall. And in April 1999, I met up with both of them to walk over to Michigan Stadium for graduation . . . on Elbel Field.
Tradition is a big deal at Michigan. I can understand why the Class of '08 feels left out.
But, since that day, right now is the first time I've thought about it again.
Maybe you will understand...
Michigan STADIUM was on the RSVP, and Rynearson FIELD is what was delivered last minute. This graduation is a celebration for the class of 2008 and it is their special day. After four years of toiling on the campus, they wanted the best that their school could offer them, since Michigan is a UNIVERSITY for the students. The campus is the students center and they are on it 24/7 rain or snow, from morning to sundown, bustling, working hard, studying, and bringing the campus to life, as with any campus. Yet their school cannot offer the students the best place possible to send them off after a four year journey of hard work and activity on the CAMPUS. Further, their school cannot offer them the best place because it is being perfected for the seasonal football fans who come and go once the end of November hits, while students are their day in and day out. Instead Class of 2008 will be asked to celebrate the end of their journey not just off the campus that is their center, but where another school sends their graduates off. With this, the chain of tradition and uniqueness of graduating in the Big House where classes before them have walked, is lost. In September, when the football fans pour into the newly renovated stadium, Spring 2008 graduates will remember the day of their graduation, while football fans will remember one or two games of the season to follow. If students disappointment at not graduating in the Big House seems like an overreaction to some, maybe those people should attend an orientation like all of the 2008 graduates once attended four summers ago, and were told that they would one day walk across the field of the Big House with their cap and gown. Once those nay sayers are indoctrinated with the maize and blue spirit and talk of tradition, maybe then they will understand student's feelings of being slighted and being asked to " kindly take their celebration somewhere else" by the same people who sold them on the tradition of Michigan spirit and serving the students.
