I love graduations! I love the sense of community, the chance to visit with students and their families and share in their accomplishments and I love a chance to see my fellow faculty all dressed up in caps and gowns. It is a great time for the school and the students.
In case you missed the email for volunteers, you are expected to arrive at 11am! That’s right, you need training for graduation and so need to be there five hours before the event! Don’t worry, lunch is being provided by City Colleges!
I believe those walking have to be there at 2:30? Can someone confirm?
For our students, a little incentive to stay for the entire graduation! (click on graduation)
The Harold Lounge 
So about this lunch, paid for by taxpayers….does it include options for those who are lactose intolerant, those who suffer from gluten issues, those who are vegan/vegetarian or suffer other food allergies. How about Kosher meals, will those be provided? Will the food be prepared near seafood or nuts, that is important for those with certain allergies to know. If I bring my own meal so that I don’t risk an allergic reaction to the food, is there a refrigerator to keep it in? Will this be a hearty meal, enough to sustain us for the long day ahead or what? Is there a convenience store nearby in case the meal doesn’t cut it and those suffering from low blood sugar need a quick fix?
Nice. I dig these old movie clips.
Waitin’ for your prediction post…
I think there should be a Words with Friends competition among students during the four hour graduation ceremony. The highest scorer wins a gift certificate. The students could post their Words With Friend boards on the Big Screen mentioned in the graduation link. At the same time, the profs and admins can have their own Words With Friends competition and then there could be a playoff in the last hour!
Of course, I would also encourage students to bring their books so they can study for their finals they won’t have taken yet:)
All I know is: when we had separate graduation ceremonies, we didn’t need pithy lists to shame our students into staying for the whole thing.
I’d start a top 5 reasons post of our own, but I ain’t gonna steal your thunder, speechfromtheblog. (Golden blogging rules I follow (and need to post in the near future.))
So I’ll add to the replies here and give you my top 5 reasons to attend graduation (a la Letterman’s lists):
5. Ponder how many more semesters we’ll have this city-wide circus in May and/or Pavilion.
4. Show my current employer that I can stay as long as she stays.
3. Security cameras will be rolling and our employer will be checking them to make sure you represented.
2. Send a message to your chancellor, your president, your aunt, your uncle. Heck, get those holiday greeting out of the way early – you’ll be there long enough!
1. You won’t be signing the attendance sheet before graduation – you’ll sign after graduation!
Que the CBS Orchestra…