Story by James Turner, Contributing Writer
Graduation will be split into two ceremonies for graduates and undergraduates this May, and limitations on family attendance will be lifted.
The undergraduate ceremony will be at 9 a.m. and the graduate ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. on May 12.
Mark Arant, provost and vice president for academic affairs, said the change was made out of respect for the community.
“Murray State has 51 percent first generation students,” Arant said. “An opportunity to be a part of that student’s graduation commencement for the first time in a family is an immense accomplishment.”
Arant said they want as many family members as possible to share in these kinds of moments, so there will be no tickets limiting how many family and friends can be invited.
“It’s about the students and about the families more than it is about us,” Arant said.
The other reason for the change was length of ceremony. Last spring, Arant said the ceremony lasted for nearly four hours, and very few people were left by the ceremonies end. Now, he hopes the ceremonies will last no longer than two hours each.
The changes were welcomed by Caprisse Johnson, a senior graduating in May. She was grateful for the potential time reduction.
“I don’t have to sit in a chair for four hours while I’m waiting for everyone to graduate, which is always good,” Johnson said.
Arant said these changes were talked about for two years before he accepted his current position.
“When I started in July, the commencement ceremony was one of the first things that people brought to my attention that needed some review and some adjustment,” Arant said.
Arant said by limiting how many could come, Murray State would be losing families and the opportunity for retaining current students and recruiting new students.
Changes won’t be needed for the December ceremony though, as the pressure on the CFSB center will be significantly less. However, Arant said with more people graduating and walking in December, they will consider two ceremonies. For now, December commencement will be combined for undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students into one ceremony.
Many students are still unaware of the changes, but steps are being taken to ensure students will know what to do. Arant said they are preparing information packets that will be included with student’s regalia upon purchase, so they’ll know which ceremony they need to attend and what they need to do.
Director of Communications, Shawn Touney said faculty are not required to attend both ceremonies, but will be encouraged to attend one or the other. The deans of each college will be working with faculty to make sure they are informed of the changes.
“During this process, we hope to address things that have been unclear in the past,” Arant said. “This is not just simply a split of ceremonies, but it’s a look at process, and trying to get everything as smoothly operated as we can.”
Arant said a graduation ceremony is a way of thanking families for choosing Murray State for pursuing higher education, respecting the community and letting them enjoy the commencement ceremony.
“They shouldn’t have to wait a long time to get to why we’re there,” Arant said. “And why we’re there is to celebrate the accomplishments of the faculty and the students.”