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Commencement to bring all Comets together
from The Mercury 04 11 22
by The Mercury
The new ceremony will come before separate graduations for UTD's different schools
FATIMAH
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Opinion Editor
After hearing out student concerns about school-based graduations, the University is holding a new inaugural graduation celebration called the “All-University Commencement” to honor graduates across all schools.
The “All-University Commencement” will be a grand processional open for all students graduating this spring and those that graduated last fall and summer. The celebration is set to happen at the circle drive in front of the mall at an unspecified time the evening of Sunday, May 18. Director of University Events and Development Initiatives Judy Barnes said the event will not affect individual schoolbased graduations, which will take place as usual in either the ATEC Auditorium or Activity Center, with the only change being that the deans of each school will lead them instead of President Richard Benson.
“The students have told us, ‘we all want to be together,’ but you know, you can’t have a ceremony that lasts five hours to get everyone across the stage,” Barnes said.
Motivated to raise funds for their favorite campus programs, several student groups have spent the past week preparing doors for the annual Comets Giving Days door decorating contest.
In keeping with a six-year tradition, the Comets Giving Days took place from 10 a.m. on April 6 to 6:49 p.m. on April 7 for a total of 1969 minutes in recognition of UTD’s founding year. Students, staff, alumni and community members are encouraged to donate to their favorite UTD schools or programs during these days. A series of leaderboards, gift matching programs, and challenges track and incentivize donations. One of these challenges invites groups to decorate a door with their artwork and the hashtag #COMETogetherUTD. The best door decoration is chosen by the number of likes the design receives on Facebook; winners receive extra funds for their area of choice. The theme of this year’s contest is “tie-dye.”
Lane Hughes, a junior biology major
