This year’s graduation commencement ceremony marks the first ever in the newly renovated First Bank & Trust arena after the last three took place off campus at the Dacotah Bank Center during construction.
The commencement ceremony will be May 10. It is overseen by SDSU event coordinator Jamison Lamp and Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dennis Hedge. Both men said they work to provide the best experiences for all university students and their families.
Not only has there been a change to the venue this year, but there also has been a slight change to the ceremony time slots.
“To maintain as much balance as we can, with the total number of students graduating, our college splits are a little different this year,” Hedge said. “The most notable change is that our College of Nursing ceremony has been changed to the 2 p.m. slot.”
In the past, the nursing ceremony was held at the 6 p.m. time slot.
Each ceremony is typically two hours long, depending on the number of students graduating and the speakers.
“I’m really excited about nursing being moved to an earlier time frame,” Mary Anne Krogh, dean of the College of Nursing said. “For the past few years, we’ve been at the 6 o’clock slot, which really made it challenging for the graduate students to be able to attend.”
“I think it was changed for the capacity,” Krough added. “The new arena is a little smaller than what it used to be and so I think they were looking at the different sizes of the colleges and seeing what times would work best for them.”
Graduation time can be stressful, but rewarding. One of the biggest challenges facing the ceremonies is getting everyone in and out of the buildings.
“First and foremost, we want to make sure that we have a wonderful experience for our graduates and their families, but there are some challenges,” Hedge said.
Hedge and Lamp put a lot of time into figuring out the smoothest way to run each ceremony along with the hustle everyone has in between ceremonies.
“The biggest challenge is figuring out how to get individuals on and off campus and just trying to enhance the overall experience for all of our visitors,” Hedge said.
Krogh said, “It’s a fun day, but it’s also organized chaos.”
Hedge and Lamp said being back on campus after three years at the Dakotah Bank Center will be more popular and they hope to see more people visiting campus.
Each graduating student gets up to six tickets for their commencement ceremony. Officials will also be live streaming the ceremonies. They will be showing the live stream in the Student Union and at McCrory Gardens to give friends and family a better experience as well.
“We want the students to be able to show grandma and grandpa where they went to school,” Hedge said.
A commencement ceremony is a huge event and an important time for the seniors who have been preparing their whole lives for this moment. Grayden Imbery, an architecture major, said he’s ready to graduate this May.
“My major has been very time-consuming throughout the past four years,” Imbery said. “I would argue that architecture is one of, if not the most time-consuming majors.”
Seniors are about to start a new chapter in their lives, and it can be nerve-racking. Staci Lubben said she’s ready to be done with college, but isn’t sure she’s fully ready to dive into a career.
“I have had a great experience here at SDSU academically and with making friends, but I am ready for my next chapter,” Lubben said. “I am, on the other hand, scared about the next chapter.”