College holds its first solo commencement

By Lauren Simo

For the first time, the College is not sharing.

At 6 p.m. May 1, the College will hold its inaugural solo commencement at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

“My graduation will now go down in history,” said Jyll Hutshneker, one of about 380 students graduating this spring.

About 3,000 to 3,500 people, mostly graduates’ family and friends, will attend the commencement, said Darius Dunn, the O’Connell Center’s associate director. Graduates typically bring seven to eight guests to the event, which requires no tickets.  

A solo commencement sounds more intimate and efficient to Hutshneker, an advertising senior.

“I’ve been to other ceremonies where a lot of colleges graduate at the same time,” Hutshneker said, “and it gets to be so long and draining.”

The ceremony will “last a little more than one hour,” said Prof. Jon Roosenraad, assistant dean for student services and chair of the C ollege’s Commencement Committee.

“We’ll appoint about 15 marshals to help organize the students when they walk in,” Roosenraad said.   

The College will recognize its Alumni of Distinction at graduation, instead of during the annual April student awards banquet.

This year’s Alumni of Distinction, Mark Erstling, TEL 1975, and Melissa Lammers, ADV 1979, plan to attend the commencement (See story).

The new, later time affects the post-ceremony reception, a 25-year-old College tradition, Roosenraad said.

The College cancelled the traditional catered reception, which used to draw 200 to 300 students, family members, friends and faculty to Weimer Hall’s atrium.

Regardless of the reception or the solo commencement, the ceremony’s most important aspect – the way graduates feel when they walk to collect their diplomas – remains unchanged, said Justin Brady, TEL 2003, senior event coordinator for the O’Connell Center.

“I was too excited to even think about what everyone else was doing,” Brady said, “so it wasn’t a big deal that we had to share.”