• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

By Karen E. Graulich

Daily Bruin Contributor

kgraulich@media.ucla.edu

UCLA’s commencement weekend is going to have a facelift that university officials hope will lead to a more enjoyable event for graduates and their families and friends.

This year the College of Letters & Sciences commencement will be held in Pauley Pavilion with Chancellor Albert Carnesale presiding over the ceremony.

Today is the last day to pick up reserved tickets. Extra tickets for those on the waitlist “will be dealt with in a reasonable manner,” said the L&S vice provost John Sandbrook.

Unlike last year, this year all four divisions of the college – humanities, social sciences, physical sciences, and biological sciences – will have a combined ceremony, said Suzanne Reed, L&S commencement coordinator.

For the 2001 commencement, a total of 20,000 tickets were available for the L&S ceremony; 3,200 complimentary tickets were given out, yet only 1,800 people actually participated.

This year tickets for the L&S commencement were available through the My.UCLA Web site May 1 through the 15th. Graduates were allowed to reserve a maximum of four tickets. For additional tickets, they had to sign up on a waiting list.

According to Sandbrook, many of the departmental ceremonies are popular because they give the students more personal recognition.

Students were allowed to request more tickets for their departmental ceremonies. Some gave out as many as 15 tickets per person.

Last year a graduate reserved 50 tickets for her entire church congregation, Sandbrook said. He felt that graduates should be considerate of others by reserving just enough seats for their family.

More than 50,000 people are expected to come to the UCLA campus between June 14 and 16 for commencement ceremonies.

Sandbrook recalled his own commencement ceremony: “When I graduated in 1973, Drake Stadium has 1,100 seats, there were more than 25,000 people. They were hanging from the trees.”

“We want an organized, structured event,” Sandbrook said. “We want to make it a pleasant experience for families and a joyous experience for the graduates.”

Comments

Post a comment