PAGE 2 // SATURDAY. MAY 22. 2010
Prepartion,
developing
COMMENCEMENT ISSUE PENDULUM
Strategy go into
graduation rain plan
ALEX TRICE | Photographer
Chairs await graduates in Alumni and Jordan Gyms in tt>e event of rain on graduation day. The chairs were set up in advance, in case of rain.
Andie Diemer
Senior Reporter
When new students first arrive at Elon
University, they meet Under the Oaks with all of
their future classmates and President Leo Lambert,
who makes a promise that they will meet again in
the same spot four years later for graduation. But
in the event that commencement cannot be held
outside because of weather, Lambert may have to
make a compromise on his promise.
Executive director of Cultural & Special
Programs Jeff Clark said 11,000 chairs, for the
estimated number of guests that will be attending,
will be set up for graduation outside. But if it rains,
graduation will be moved inside to Alumni and
Jordan gyms, where each graduate will only be
allowed two guests to accompany them because of
a lack of space. All other guests can visit various
locations around campus, such as LaRose Digital
Theatre, McCrary Theatre and Yeager Recital Hall,
which will have a direct feed of the broadcast of
the two gyms.
“The reason we want to be outside is because
we accommodate everyone in the ceremony that
way, and the ceremony will be done in its full
glory outside,” Clark said. “We have to keep it on
that day and on campus because it's where the
students spent their years here. It’s a tradition —
it’s more meaningful.”
Clark and his team work on commencement all
year long, with a bulk of the job being completed
during the three months leading up to May 22.
Their preparation must include a strategy in case
it rains, which includes the set up of alternate
chairs, venues, air conditioners and catering, all
of which have to be calculated into their costs.
While Clark said they make every effort to hold
commencement outside, the final call will be made
very early Saturday morning.
If they decide to move it inside, where it hasn’t
been held since 1998, the students would go to
Jordan Gym as originally planned. But instead of
moving outside to Under the Oaks, they would stay
there as their guests filled Alumni Gym, which
can hold around 2,500 people. The graduates
would stay seated in Jordan Gym and then filter
into Alumni Gym to walk across the stage and
receive their diploma in front of the guests and
then exit back to Jordan Gym as their classmates
receive their degrees.
George Troxler, former dean of Cultural &
Special Programs, said there has always been a rain
plan, but as the number of students graduating
grew, the plan had to change to accommodate the
number of guests. First they excluded faculty from
attending, then they tried to add more chairs and
other smaller changes, but it wasn’t enough for
the number of people they anticipated to attend.
“We had to rewrite everything last year, and 1
think that solution is the best thing we can do to
preserve the ceremony,” Troxler said.
By taking the graduates out of Alumni Gym,
they were able to open up more space for those
watching the graduates.
Both gyms will be outfitted with cameras and
screens so they are able to broadcast to each other
and on Elon TV around campus. Faculty members
with the last name A-H will be permitted into
commencement, while other faculty will host
guests as they watch in the additional buildings
or will hand Oak saplings out to students as they
leave graduation. The post-graduation reception
that is normally held on Scott Plaza will then be
moved to buildings where the various schools are
located.
Graduates will also not receive their real
diplomas inside, but instead a folder with instructions
on where to obtain it, since there is not enough time
to shift all of the diplomas in the correct order over
to the gym. The graduates can pick their diplomas up
at their respective reception after commencement.
Clark said if a decision is made to go with the rain
plan, everything jWill change, but the,.workload will
be spread out over many people to ensure it runs
smoothly. Announcements will be made on the radio
and on TV. As of May 17, chairs had already been set
up in the alternate locations to completely prepare
for the event.
If the ceremony has already started outside and
then needs to be moved inside, an announcement
will be made and the rain plan will go into action. If
there are fewer than 100 diplomas left to distribute,
the remaining students will be taken inside of West
Parlor where they will receive them.
Updated weather information will also be available
by calling 336-278-RAIN (7246).
Ground breaks on various construction projects for summer
Jack Dodson
News Editor
Construction will be underway at
Elon University when students return
for classes in the fall, according to Neil
Bromilow, director of planning, design
and construction management.
In addition to three dormitories
being added to the Colonnades and
five Greek houses to the Loy Center,
Bromilow said, the summer will also
bring renovations to Alumni Gym
and Latham Park, the completion
of the railroad tunnel and drilling
for geothermal wells behind Koury
Business Center.
Alumni Gym will be renovated
with theater-style seating, upgraded
lighting, new sound and video
equipment, reorganized coaches
offices, a new entrance and an outdoor
plaza. The project is scheduled for
completion at the end of the summer
of 2011.
Latham Park will see upgrades,
too, as FieldTurf will replace the grass
playing field the baseball team now
uses.
Colonnades will see the beginning
stages of construction during the
summer as ground will break on
three new buildings: C, D and E, which
Bromilow said in a previous interview
will be more dorm style than the
current Colonnades residence halls.
Construction has all ready begun
on five Greek houses in the Loy
Center. Both the Colonnades and the
Loy Center projects have a planned
completion of fall 2011.
The new quad in the Colonnades
created by the addition of three
buildings will be the location of 112
geothermal wells, Bromilow said. This
will be a source of power for the new
housing, and drilling for the wells will
begin this summer.
Bromilow said the wells are part of
an energy system for the Colonnades
approved by the Board of Trustees
during the spring meeting, and they
are 140 feet deep. He said they won’t
be standard on all new construction
projects because they can get in the
way.
“When they drill all these holes in
the ground, they have to connect them
with a pipe, and the pipes have to run
to a pump house,” he said.
Any new construction in the
area would require digging up the
pipes, he said, so it’s not necessarily
something that will occur with all new
construction.
For Bromilow, the upcoming
summer is an important one because
it’s a construction-heavy one. He said
he is excited for summer 2011 because
it will be a summer where a lot of the
construction projects are completed
and many beds will be added to
campus.
“This summer is one of building
things and next summer is one of
turning over,” Bromilow said. “Every
summer you open up a whole bunch
of residence hall beds, it’s exciting.”
n ^ ^ ^ ^ PAM RICHTER I Pt'O'ograP'*
1 Center. Neil Bromilow, director of planning, design and construction
management, said five new Greek houses will be added. The scheduled completion date is fall of 2011.