2008 Woodie Awards
SGA discusses changes to graduation ceremony
By: Tiffany Kleekamp
Issue date: 10/27/05 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
The class of 2006 could be in for some graduation changes. The Administration Council, which meets every Tuesday, told Dean of Students Ted Hoef it wanted student input on possibly changing the commencement ceremonies.
For nine out of 10 years, the graduation event was held on campus under tents on Eden Seminary's field. Typically about 1,100 students graduate and they bring a total of about 10,000 to 11,000 guests. A main ceremony takes place where all students and all guests are invited. Speakers give their regards and in the years past, Jack Buck, longtime voice of the St. Louis Cardinals and former President George Bush Sr. have made guest appearances.
After the main ceremony, each student would proceed to his or her particular school's tent to get a diploma and walk across the stage. The last year this happened, in 2003, a big storm forced the graduation ceremony out of tents and not all students got the change to walk across the stage, which caused big problems.
After 2003, the event was held in the Edward Jones Dome, home of the St. Louis Rams. The main ceremony was held on the main floor and the separate schools' ceremonies were held in various parts of the America's Center Convention Center.
The new plan the Administration Council suggested could eliminate the main ceremony altogether and leave each school to have its ceremony in existing buildings on campus at different times.
The Administration Council asked for student input, so Hoef asked the Student Government Association (SGA) what they thought. Most of the members were in favor of moving the ceremony back on campus because it is more personal.
Constitution Changes
SGA is proposing to change certain parts of its constitution. The changes will be voted on at the next meeting Nov. 8.
The first change could be removing the last two sentences of Article I, Section II that states "The number of At-Large Senators will increase at a rate of an additional two per two thousand students enrolled at the Webster Groves Campus as to keep an odd number of members in the SGA. The student population shall be checked on week before At-Large Elections." Secretary Libby Farmer said those two sentences could be removed because they were too vague.
The next change could be re-wording certain sections of the constitution by changing the word "charter" to recognize. Article X, Section I states "There shall be two categories of Chartered Student Organizations…" The amendment would be changed to say: There shall be two categories of recognized student organizations.
The final change would be removing the clause "any act that could reasonably be construed as defamatory or injurious to a student or group of students-specifically insulting remarks, either spoken at an organization function or published by the organization regarding race, sex, religion or sexual orientation" in Article X, Section IVc. Farmer said the clause would be removed because of legal reasons because "we can't tell people what they can and cannot say."
She added that the decision is not intended to encourage discrimination.
Other Business
Construction on the kiosk will begin sometime before the end of the semester, said SGA President Trevor Zickgraf.
For nine out of 10 years, the graduation event was held on campus under tents on Eden Seminary's field. Typically about 1,100 students graduate and they bring a total of about 10,000 to 11,000 guests. A main ceremony takes place where all students and all guests are invited. Speakers give their regards and in the years past, Jack Buck, longtime voice of the St. Louis Cardinals and former President George Bush Sr. have made guest appearances.
After the main ceremony, each student would proceed to his or her particular school's tent to get a diploma and walk across the stage. The last year this happened, in 2003, a big storm forced the graduation ceremony out of tents and not all students got the change to walk across the stage, which caused big problems.
After 2003, the event was held in the Edward Jones Dome, home of the St. Louis Rams. The main ceremony was held on the main floor and the separate schools' ceremonies were held in various parts of the America's Center Convention Center.
The new plan the Administration Council suggested could eliminate the main ceremony altogether and leave each school to have its ceremony in existing buildings on campus at different times.
The Administration Council asked for student input, so Hoef asked the Student Government Association (SGA) what they thought. Most of the members were in favor of moving the ceremony back on campus because it is more personal.
Constitution Changes
SGA is proposing to change certain parts of its constitution. The changes will be voted on at the next meeting Nov. 8.
The first change could be removing the last two sentences of Article I, Section II that states "The number of At-Large Senators will increase at a rate of an additional two per two thousand students enrolled at the Webster Groves Campus as to keep an odd number of members in the SGA. The student population shall be checked on week before At-Large Elections." Secretary Libby Farmer said those two sentences could be removed because they were too vague.
The next change could be re-wording certain sections of the constitution by changing the word "charter" to recognize. Article X, Section I states "There shall be two categories of Chartered Student Organizations…" The amendment would be changed to say: There shall be two categories of recognized student organizations.
The final change would be removing the clause "any act that could reasonably be construed as defamatory or injurious to a student or group of students-specifically insulting remarks, either spoken at an organization function or published by the organization regarding race, sex, religion or sexual orientation" in Article X, Section IVc. Farmer said the clause would be removed because of legal reasons because "we can't tell people what they can and cannot say."
She added that the decision is not intended to encourage discrimination.
Other Business
Construction on the kiosk will begin sometime before the end of the semester, said SGA President Trevor Zickgraf.