KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 2010 / NEWS
GRADUATION
3A
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
Ceremony time change is a result of weather, scheduling concerns
Ryan Waggoner/KANSA Students round the corner after passing through the Campanile during the traditional walk down the hill for KU Commencement. The ceremony will be held in the morning starting this year, rather than the afternoon as it has been in the past
BY GARTH SEARS gsears@kansan.com
The University is changing its commencement time for the class of 2011's graduation. Commencement will be held at 10:30 a.m., rather than in the afternoon. The time change will push back other ceremonies to Friday and Saturday.
Since 1990, the ceremony has started at 2:30 p.m., a particularly warm part of the day during a hot month.
Avoiding the heat and other weather problems was one of the reasons for making the time shift, according to Jeff Weinberg, an assistant to the chancellor and member of the University's commencement committee.
Weinberg said more thunderstorms happen in the afternoon than in the morning, and that the time shift would be better for traveling families.
"This will allow families to enjoy downtown Lawrence, or to catch a plane in Kansas City, which is harder with later ceremonies." Weinberg said.
Will Leach, a senior from
"This will allow families to enjoy downtown Lawrence, or to catch a plane in Kansas City."
Overland Park, said he liked the new ceremony time.
JEFF WEINBERG Assistant to the chancellor
"I think it's smart," he said. "You get out of the heat, and
it's less of a time constraint."
Leach said the earlier time also allows for more flexibility with holding and attending graduation
parties.
Some students are not as thrilled about the earlier schedule for commencement. Jessica Brooks, a senior from Pleasanton, expressed concern that moving the ceremony to an earlier time would cause families who live farther away extra costs.
"I'm fortunate that my family lives close. But some families, like in western Kansas, would have to come in the night before and stay at a hotel now," Brooks said. "More families can't make the trip in a day, which is harder on them."
Weinberg said the commencement committee evaluated the whole commencement process every year.
"If we come across any issues with the morning time, we'll address it immediately," he said.
Edited by Michael Bednar
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