[Blank photo] HENRY PLANS TO VISIT KENTUCKY CAMPUS After cancelling last weekend, Xavier's talking to the Wildcats again. SPORTS 11B BASEBALL SUCCESS ALL IN THE FAMILY Three Jayhawks have relatives who have been in the MLB. SPORTS|1B THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904 THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KAN TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2009 WWW.KANSAN.COM VOLUME 120 ISSUE 140 NEW GRADUATES, SAME OLD PATH A DAY OF RICH TRADITION KU's commencement practices date back more than 100 years in school history BY RACHEL BURCHFIELD rburchfield@kansan.com Kansas is a university ripe with tradition year-round — the Rock Chalk chant, waving the wheat and the alma mater to name a few. Yet at no time of year are some KU traditions more in bloom than at the peak of spring, and the peak of graduating seniors' college careers — commencement. From the University's first commencement in 1873 to now, here is a brief glimpse of some KU commencement traditions. FROM THEN TO NOW "I think these traditions are special because it unites Jayhawks throughout generations," said Michael Gray, Buhler senior. "Walking through the Campanile, you're experiencing something that your parents, and maybe your grandparents, experienced. It unites Jayhawks throughout history." 1873 marked the first commencement at the University. Graduates made a procession from "the old building" — the first building ever built on campus, also called Old North College, which sat where Gertrude Sellards Pearson Hall and Corbin Hall sit today — to "the new building". the second building ever built on campus, then called University Hall and later called the original Fraser Hall. On the program that day was a prayer, the awarding of the diplomas to the graduating class, music, announcements and a benediction. WALKING DOWN THE HILL At the University, students don't ask, "Are you going to commence-ment?" said Kathryn Nemeth Tuttle, associate vice provost for student success. "They say, 'Are you going to walk?'" Nemeth Tuttle said. "It has taken on such a symbolic thing in everybody's mind. There is something very special about it." KU Info director Curtis Marson said Memorial Stadium wasn't built until 1921, so the walk down the hill couldn't have occurred before that. Nemeth Tuttle said she had seen film of students walking into the stadium from as far back as the 1930s. "It's a long established tradition," Nemeth Tuttle said. "Obviously, the size of the stadium — it's the only venue of that size, because remember, at that time we didn't have Allen Fieldhouse. We had SEE TRADITIONS ON PAGE 3A Kathryn Nemeth Tuttle's other favorite commencement traditions - Not having an invited commencement speaker. "It's symbolic that the walk is graduation, and that it's less important to have a very spectacular speaker." Nemeth Tuttle said. ■ The faculty lining the walkways of the path down to Memorial Stadium. "It's really neat to see students see faculty that they know, and stop and shake their hand or hug." Nemeth Tuttle said. "It's a very nice tradition about relationships developed that are very positive between faculty and students." - When students dress up their commencement regalia. "The student nurses have had inflated rubber gloves above their heads," Nemeth Tuttle said. "It's not meant to demean the process, it just makes it more individualized." She also said fine arts students have painted their gowns, and Engineering students once brought a concrete canoe down the hill with them. Kathryn Nemeth Tuttle, associate vice provost for student success ■ The location of commencement in Memorial Stadium. "Once you're inside the stadium, you can look back up at the beauty of campus," Nemeth Turtle said. STUDENT SENATE Kansan revisits last year's promises BY BRIANNE PFANNENSTIEL bpfannenstiel@kansan.com Student Body President-elect Mason Heilman, Lawrence junior has a full year to work on his coalition's platform issues and to implement changes on campus. Here's a look at the previous administration's promises and achievements. The Kansan evaluated the coalition on a grading scale, based on the success of its platforms. McGonigle NEW POOL — POOR United Students said it wanted to add a new pool to the Ambler Student Recreation Fitness Center. The coalition planned to pay for the addition with money from the Athletics Department, donations from KU alumni and a short-term expansion of the Women's and Non-Revenue Sports fee. While Adam McGonigle, student body president, said progress had been made on developing plans for the pool, he said the pool would not be built on schedule because of the current economic climate. "I think it would have been irresponsible to move forward with that timeline, but we were able to preserve the work we did so that in two years, when we're hopefully in a better financial situation, we will absolutely be able to move forward," McGonigle said. CAMPUS PARKING MODERATE The coalition also presented a plan to offer free parking on the top level of the Kansas Union parking garage to students without passes after 5 p.m. and on basketball game days. No changes have been made to parking in the garage, but McGonigle said other park- ACTIVISM SEE PLATFORM ON PAGE 3A 'Kiss-in' raises awareness of same-sex couples Queers and Allies event encourages students to make out on lawn for Gay Pride Week BY DAVID UGARTE dugarte@kansan.com From Strong Hall lawn, Sara Thompson and other members of Queers and Allies invited passers-by along Jayhawk Boulevard to join them Monday for a kiss-in, where same-sex and heterosexual couples made out on couches and blankets to demonstrate gay pride. Thompson, Salina senior, said she felt the kiss-in from previous years did not make the right statement, so she said she decided to move it from Wescoe Beach to Strong Hall lawn, include more couples and actively invite students to join, with a megaphone and "mood music." "I'm proud to have organized such a blatantly in-your-face kind of event," Thompson said. "Making out for the sake of activism isn't Matthew Araiza, Queers anl Allies historian, said the kiss-in would allow homosexuals' presence to be known. It was also a way to show that they liked to make out, just like heterosexual people, Araiza, Plano, Texas, freshman, said. such a bad thing." Thompson said the goal of the kiss-in was to make a statement about homosexual relationships and public displays of affection. She said that because homosexual public displays of affection were "This is an event where both gays and our allies can come together in something that is familiar to both groups," Araiza said. "The more both groups can come together the better we can understand each other." CFE KISS-IN ON PAGE 3A Ryan Campbell, Olathe senior, leans down into a kiss with Matt Araiza, Plano Texas, freshman during Monday afternoon's kiss-in, sponsored by Queens and Allies. Held on the lawn of Strong Hall, the event encourages both gay and straight couples to make out publicly as a way of supporting equality of same-sex relationships. Ryan McGeeney/KANSAN index Classifieds ... 4B Crossword ... 4A Horoscopes ... 4A Opinion...5A Sports...1B Sudoku...4A All contents, unless stated otherwise; © 2009 The University Daily Kansan ASSOCIATED PRESS TIMES WINS 5 AWARDS Winners for the Pulitzer Prize were announced Monday. JOURNALISM 13A weather TODAY 69 42 Partly cloudy WEDNESDAY 77 54 THURSDAY 2 83 61 AM clouds/PM sun weather.com