Commencement Prep

Commencement is on Monday and everything is shifting into high gear.  Despite the torrential rains of earlier this week, the Commencement tent is up and being prepped for the ceremony.  They’ve yet to lay the outdoor carpet on the tent’s stage, where the president, Trustees, speakers, and faculty will sit, but the structure is ready.

There will be approximately 12,000 chairs laid on the Quad grass.  Students will be seated closest to the tent, in the center sections, then there will be seats on the perimeter and the back half of the Quad for families and guests.  The chairs are arriving on large pallets, bound by what looks like Saran Wrap, and marked with the total number of chairs per bundle; in the case of the picture to the right, it was 225 chairs.

Earlier this spring, there were new markers laid into the brickwork of the Quad with the official name of “Hearn Plaza,” in memory of our late president, Thomas K. Hearn, Jr.  It’s also worth noting that the hydrangeas on the Quad flanking Efird and Huffman residence halls are ridiculously beautiful and enormous.  They are pure excess in every way – too big, too lush, too pretty.  Perfect, actually.  If I were coming and choosing a seat to view Commencement, I’d want these in my view.

While I was up there this morning, I also took a picture of Wait Chapel in extreme close up, long view.  Most of the time we are so busy looking at it from a distance, you don’t realize just how big it is.  Until you stop and take a moment to stand at the bottom.

The 5 day weather forecast this morning looked a little less ‘dry and sunny’ than I would have liked.   Again we implore you to add to the power of positive thinking and envision us with a day that is sunny and high 70s, with no chance of rain.  There is no better Commencement weather than that.