As the school year winds down, seniors have one major event on their minds, Commencement. Graduation will take place on Saturday, May 23 at 9:15 a.m. under The Oaks.
Jeffery Clark, executive director of cultural and special programs, said preparation for the 2015 Commencement began a few days after the 2014 Commencement. Clark and other staff look at the ceremony and see what changes they can make to improve on for the coming year's graduation festivities.
Every fall, the university orders necessary equipment such as chairs, tents and the stage. The planning continues throughout the winter the university communicates with the parents and students about the Commencement schedule. During the spring, the university begins the fine-tuning phase, squaring away all the last minute details.
With over 1,300 graduates and 9 family members per graduate in attendance, the university plans for about 12,000 people to attend this year's Commencement. Under the oaks at West dormitory is one of the few places on campus that holds tradition and can hold this many people.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cED3Df56Wfw&noredirect=1&w=560&h=315]
"I think it's special, because we still do it the way that Elon has done it for a long time and that is that every graduate who attends gets to walk across the stage, have their name called and have their diploma given to them by the president and have their moment," Clark said.
Graduation is not only memorable for graduating seniors and their families, but for the entire university, as well. Clark said that everyone on campus is involved with graduation in some way. Campus Technology, the Registrars Office and Physical Plant are a few of the offices heavily involved with the spring commencement.
Next Thursday, May 14, students can expect to see the early stages of graduation preparation with the stage setup. In the week approaching Commencement, the chairs and other equipment will start to arrive for physical plant to set up.
Though no one wants rain on their graduation day, Clark said Elon's new rain plan in case of inclement weather. There will be two commencement ceremonies in Alumni Gym. The first will be for students receiving Bachelor of Arts degrees and the will be second for students receiving Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Arts degrees. All students and faculty will be in the Alumni Gym with two guests for each graduate. Other guests will be at locations on campus watching on video.
Clark said that it has not rained on commencement since 1998, so hopefully the Class of 2015 will be able to enjoy their graduation Under the Oaks.