Plans are currently underway to change this year's Commencement ceremony to eliminate some of the problems that organizers faced last year. Graduating students will each receive four tickets for friends and family to ensure that they get a seat in the main Commencement tent on Garland Field. Also among the changes are a new faculty seating area on the main Commencement stage and large television screens to aid viewing for those removed from the immediate stage.
"Unfortunately, the size of the crowd has surpassed the capacity of the [main Commencement] tent," said Stephen Goutman, the President of Class of 2002. "The tent can hold around 5,500 people. You have 1,000 students, 4,000 family members, faculty and possibly a press pool."
Those not accommodated under the tent will be seated near large televisions in areas that do not have a clear view of the stage.
"We're giving parents a chance to watch their kids graduate from college," Goutman said. "There are several ways we want to do this, like bringing in large television screens so the people in the back can see."
While the tickets may be necessary, plans for this year's Commencement are not yet finalized.
"We're going to get feedback from everybody," said Goutman. "I was told that we were going to have tickets. I want to hear what people think first." The tickets are part of a plan to make this year's Commencement as orderly and enjoyable as possible, according to Goutman.
"We're really trying to give the ceremony a more professional, more intimate feeling," said Stephen Goutman. Goutman also said one goal of the changes was to make the ceremony less chaotic, while at the same time offering more people a chance to view the ceremony.
Another change to this year's ceremony is the presence of faculty on stage. In previous years, faculty have been encouraged to attend, but as members of the audience. As a result, attendance figures have been lower than many students would like, according to Goutman.
"We're writing invitations to faculty, students are writing invitations to the faculty, and the administration is writing invitations to the faculty," said Goutman. "There's going to be a position for all the faculty on stage. We're working on making the stage larger so the faculty can sit there."
The photo booth, which in previous ceremonies had been set up for parents to take a picture of their children receiving their diplomas, has been removed from this year's ceremony. A professional photographer will instead take photos of students receiving their diplomas. These photos will be sent to the students.
"When you have parents getting up [to take photos] and getting in the way of other parents, it creates a chaotic situation," said Goutman. "Some parents get upset and start [verbally harassing other parents.]"
Television crews from NBC may also be at JHU's Commencement this year. Tom Brokaw, this year's Commencement speaker, is the anchor of the NBC Nightly News. While the chance for national coverage of the Commencement speech are low, Goutman anticipates some media to cover the event.
"My guess is that if he's there, NBC will be there to show a little clip during their weekly wrap-up," said Goutman.
