Ticket policy implemented for '02 graduation ceremony

The Hopkins administration has decided to revamp their Commencement ticket policy to account for the growing problem that has faced graduating seniors in recent years. Due to a steady increase in the undergraduate population, recent graduation ceremonies have become more crowded. Earlier this year, President Brody and the Hopkins administration announced that each graduating senior will receive four tickets for friends and family in the main Commencement tent on Garland Field.

The decision to distribute tickets for the families of graduating seniors is the solution decided up to a solve the crowding problem. "There's no easy answer and I don't think there's any easy solution," said Steven Goutman, president of the Class of 2002. "It's really difficult to go one way or the other, simply because there was no way to satisfy everybody."

The joint decision was made between faculty in the President's Office and the Office of Special Events in review of last year's graduation. Traditionally, the Commencement ceremony was held on the Upper Quad. It was only last year that the ceremony was moved to Garland Field to accommodate the growing crowds. The recently-completed construction on campus also necessitated the move to Garland Field; because of the work that was done, it is no longer possible to move heavy equipment on the Upper Quad.

The issue, said Goutman, is simply that a lot of people want to go to graduation. "Some people bring two members of their family, others bring 19. The real concern is that if an individual student pays $120,000 for tuition, they should at least be guaranteed a few seats under the tent."

Students have had mixed reactions to the news so far. "The feedback was pretty split," said Goutman. "Half the people didn't have a problem with tickets and the other half did. There's no real right answer. It seems this clearly will solve some problems, at least allowing every student to have some member of his or her family at the ceremony, where in the past it wasn't guaranteed."

Hopkins is not the only school to come to this decision in recent years; many other schools around the country have moved to tickets to ensure good seats for the families and friends of graduating seniors. Previously, getting good seats was dependant on what time families arrived and how many people students invited. The Hopkins administration introduced this new policy as a way to be fair to all graduating students. "It will be a change," said Goutman, "and I think we're just going to have to see how it turns out."

The Office of Special Events and the Office of Student Life are working on additional options for those who don't have seats in the main tent. The Commencement ceremony will take place on Garland Field on May 23. Commencement will start at 9 a.m., with the Undergraduate Diploma Ceremony taking place at 1:45 p.m. Tickets for the Commencement ceremony will be distributed towards the end of April until May 10.