Purdue adds commencement ceremony due to large engineering participation, webcasts and accommodations in place

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University has added a sixth ceremony for spring commencement at its West Lafayette campus due to an unexpected demand for tickets for the engineering event.

Graduate students earning master's and doctoral degrees from the College of Engineering will now take part in a 1 p.m. May 18 ceremony in the Elliott Hall of Music. Undergraduate engineering candidates will participate in a 3:45 p.m. ceremony, also on the same day.

Both graduate and undergraduate engineering participants were originally scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. ceremony in Elliott Hall, where all six events May 16-18 will take place. However, when online registration for participation was completed and a larger-than-normal group of students indicated plans to take part in the ceremony, commencement coordinators realized it would put attendance past Elliott Hall's capacity.

"We have roughly 200 more engineering students participating than normal, and we want every graduate and their guests to be able to enjoy and be a part of this special occasion," said Chris Pass, senior assistant registrar. "This is a very important milestone in their lives and, with moving things around a little bit, we're happy that we will be able to accommodate them."

Graduate engineering students are asked to report to the Purdue Armory at 11:45 a.m. The Elliott Hall doors for family and friends attending the 1 p.m. ceremony will open at 12:30 p.m. For the 3:45 p.m. ceremony for undergraduate engineering students, students are asked to report to the armory at 2 p.m. The Elliott Hall doors will open to family and friends at 2:45 p.m.

Commencement coordinators are working with Purdue police on parking and urge those attending the 1 p.m. ceremony to park in the Northwestern Street parking garage, Pass said. There will be a shuttle service from that garage to Elliott Hall for those who have trouble walking the distance, Pass said.

Those attending the 3:45 p.m. ceremony are urged to use the University Street parking garage.

Special accommodations have been made for the engineering ceremony for those guests who do not have a ticket but want to be part of the experience. The Lawson Hall of Computer Science atrium and Lawson Hall, Room 1142, as well as Stewart Center's Loeb Playhouse, will be set up as webcast viewing areas. The university will offer transportation to and from Loeb for guests with mobility concerns, and the pickup location will be on the south side of Elliott Hall.

The first four ceremonies will take place as scheduled. The colleges of Education and Liberal Arts will have their ceremony at 8 p.m. Friday, May 16. The colleges of Health and Human Sciences and Veterinary Medicine will have their ceremony at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, May 17. Commencement for the colleges of Agriculture and Pharmacy and School of Management will be at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, May 17. The colleges of Science and Technology will have commencement at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, May 18.

Lawson Hall's atrium and Room 1142 will be open for webcast viewing for all six ceremonies. Fowler Hall in Stewart Center also will be available during the 2:30 p.m. May 17 (Division III) ceremony.

"We've made these arrangements so that those coming to campus can still take part in the excitement of the procession to Elliott Hall as well as the special events that take place after the commencement ceremony," Pass said.

Participating graduates are urged not to bring bags or purses when they report to the Purdue Armory for their respective ceremony, Pass said. Anyone bringing those types of items will have to leave them at a checkpoint in the Armory and will not be able to take them into Elliott Hall.

Commencement staff will check bags and purses for any guest carrying them into the ceremony.

All ceremonies will be aired live on Comcast Channel 5 and Boiler TV Channel 26.4. All speeches will be captioned for the hearing impaired. The ceremonies also will be shown live via webcast at http://www.kaltura.com/tiny/wdhme.

Commencement videos will be available for $30 per DVD. Order forms can be obtained at the Loeb Playhouse box office, online at http://www.purdue.edu/registrar/pdf/DVD_Form.pdf, or by calling 765-494-3933. Forms may be submitted both before and after the ceremony within two weeks of the event.

For more information, call 765-494-6157 or email commencement@purdue.edu.

Writer:     Jim Bush, 765-494-2077, jsbush@purdue.edu

Sources:     
Christine DeHahn Pass, senior assistant registrar, 765-494-6163, dehahn@purdue.edu     
Scott A. Stremiecki, electronics technician VIII, 765-496-6189, sastremiecki@purdue.edu