tl20040209_001 "Baltimore's #1 College Paper - Published Twice-Weekly - www.thetowerlight.com Monday, 2/9/04 Sororities look for new recruits Women's studies appoints chair New Greeks host 'Goddess1 Dance 'Barbershop 2 cast a cut above Departments Opinion 2 News Campus briefs.... Nation He Says She Says Entertainment briefs... Sports In this corner. Athlete of the Week.... Face-Off. Classifieds 16 Graduation changes finalized Lisa Johnson/The Towerlight Graduates and their families will fill Unitas Stadium for two commencement ceremonies to be held Wednesday, May 19. A committee considered holding one outdoor graduation for all colleges, a marked change from past years when ceremonies took place in the Towson Center over two days. Commencement ceremonies condensed to one day, returned to original date after complaints Megan Rotondo The Towerlight After several changes in graduation date and location that left last- semester seniors guessing, plans for spring commencement have been finalized. Commencement for undergraduate and graduate students will be held Wednesday, May 19 in two ceremonies at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. in Unitas Stadium. Bill Reuling, assistant to the provost of academic affairs, explained that President Robert Caret requested the commencement planning committee change the original dates of May 19 and 20. """"The president asked the planning committee to do a one-day event to take advantage of the stadium,"""" Reuling said. The committee considered moving the date to May 23 and holding graduation in one ceremony, however, Reuling explained the idea was towson.edu had many seniors and parents in an uproar over the change in date. """"Somehow it got out there when it should have been left alone,"""" Reuling said. Tammy Sparks, a senior speech pathology and A posting on http://students. said the format and date change to May 23 made her consider not even attending gradua- """"I liked the idea of graduating with my college and that I could choose to graduate with the people I've been in class with,"""" she said. """"That's what Towson has been promoting: big school with a small school atmosphere. It kind of goes against what [Towson] stands for."""" The strong reaction forced the committee to come up with an alter nate idea. """"We heard from parents, students, alumni and staff,"""" Reuling said. """"There were a lot of plans people had made and reservations, so we came up with a different plan."""" The committee, which is made up of a variety of Towson community members including alumni and police, decided to return to the original date of May 19, leaving May 20 as a rain date. """"We wanted to keep it around the same date,"""" Reuling said. """"And we did it. It's at the same time, just one day now. It gives us a backup to go into Thursday if we According to Reuling, the change in date is based on several factors, including money and staff availability. .""""Last spring we were doing five ceremonies,"""" he said. """"The good thing is they were indoor and you didn't have to worry about the weather, but it made for a long two days. When you're doing five """"Last spring we were doing five ceremonies. The good thing is they were indoor and you didn't have to worry about the weather, but it made for a long two days. When you're doing five ceremonies, it wears on you."""" Bill Reuling assistant to the provost The final decision was made public in an all-campus e-mail sent Friday, Jan. 30. Reuling said since the notice was sent clarifying the date, they have not received many calls or e-mails. """"We're just trying to do it all in one day with a backup date,"""" he explained. """"Half the colleges in the country do outside ceremonies."""" However, some seniors still have concerns about the change. """"I'm still annoyed because I'm graduating at 10 a.m. and my fiancee is graduating at 4 p.m. so I'm going to be outside for about 10 hours,"""" Sparks said. """"I think the date is better for some people because of travel plans, but if I had a choice I would prefer to have it the way it was before."""" The committee estimates 1,000 students will attend each ceremony. The difference between the exact numbers for each ceremony is about 27 students, making the division of the colleges very equal. Reuling said the space allotted between the two ceremonies should provide plenty of time for people to get where they need to. """"We need to have folks clear out, that's the biggest thing we need to See PLANS, page 6 Thursday High 40 Low 23"
