Commencement events, traditions, and experiences are being examined and modified this year for the graduates of the class of 2015.
Mary Frances Kerr, Special Assistant to the President, and Brenda Soto, Director of College Events, have distinct visions for this year’s commencement events and those to come.
Both Kerr and Soto sit on the Academic Events Committee, which helps select the commencement speakers and honorary degree recipients at least a year in advance.
Staff, faculty, and students nominate candidates, and there are many voices in the selection process.
This year alumnus William “Bro” Adams, the chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and former president of Bucknell University and Colby College, will give the commencement address. Adams is renowned for his advocacy and participation in the humanities and liberal arts.
Michael Grace, who has served as interim president and professor at Colorado College, and Robert C. Fox, Professor of Music, Chair of the Music Department, and Dean of Summer Sessions, will be the 2015 baccalaureate speakers.
Grace is sure to bring a unique spin to this year’s event. “Michael would really like to bring music into it,” said Soto. “Being a music professor and being here so long, how he relates music into his speech will be part of the uniqueness of his presentation.”
While this will be Soto and Kerr’s first year in charge of the commencement events, they have plans to continue improving the experience for graduating seniors.
The conversations about next year’s events have just begun, and both expect to see the traditions passed down at CC change or remain the same based on feedback.
Soto said, “We haven’t really had the chance to focus on the ceremony, to look at it and think ‘why do we do that?’ or ‘why don’t we do this?’ We will look to students to tell us what they think, so we can consider their input.”
Kerr is looking forward to how the college will benefit from their work this year. “I start with listening,” she said. “I think it’s a matter of paying attention to the event in an entirely different way and thinking about both how you get there and what happens.”
While commencement events are deeply rooted in tradition, there are some new changes that will be implemented this year to improve the experience.
For example, the senior survey will now be online.
After many years of paper surveys and arduous transcribing, CC is taking the leap to digital surveys in order to create a more sustainable and efficient data collecting process.
To incentivize seniors, those who fill out the short two-minute survey will be entered into a $250 drawing for Southwest Airlines.
“The senior survey is very important to us,” said Soto. The feedback the Academic Events Committee receives will help tell the world the story of CC, and also help the college gain a sense of how to continue to support alumni as they begin a new chapter in their lives.
Aside from the survey, President Jill Tiefenthaler and Dean Mike Edmonds, Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students, are excited to present a new tradition. This year they will host a reception for seniors in the Fine Arts Center on May 8.
“This is your last hurrah for your four years, and something you will remember ten years down the line. We’re doing everything we can to make sure we’re tying everything together to say ‘you’ve done it,’” said Soto.
Baccalaureate is scheduled for Sunday, May 17 at 3 p.m. in Shove Chapel. The 2015 Commencement Ceremony will be on Monday, May 18 at 8:30 a.m. on Armstrong Quad.