From administrators pushing graduates offstage to outdoor ceremonies being canceled for bad weather, many graduates have left their commencement feeling unsatisfied.
In response, UF’s President’s Commencement Task Force recommended changes to graduation in a 31-page report.
The task force has just published its report after a six-month-long investigation from August 2018 to January 2019, said UF spokesperson Steve Orlando.
The report recommended providing options for low-income families to help minimize the cost of staying in Gainesville as well as standardizing the selection and training of graduation marshals.
It also suggested making more effort to recognize the commencements of certain groups on campus, including Hispanic and Latinx graduation, the Disability Resource Center’s Pioneering Access Ceremony and Honors Graduation by adding them to the commencement website.
Orlando said some of the task force’s other recommendations are still under consideration, including the adoption of a purpose statement for graduation planning committees, hiring an artistic director for future ceremonies and creating more recognition ceremonies for students who have won awards.
The task force gathered data from UF staff, students and families to produce the report, Orlando said.
The task force was created after the Spring 2018 College of Liberal Arts and Sciences commencement, where graduates were forcefully removed from stage for trying to do a celebratory dance.
According to the report, the task force’s findings were published after the Spring 2019 commencement, so changes planned prior to the group’s formation could also be evaluated. The team was co-led by former Student Body President Ian Green and former UF Vice President of Student Affairs Dave Parrott. It was comprised of 25 people, made up of volunteers and members selected by UF President Kent Fuchs, Green and Parrott.
Made up of equal parts students, faculty and staff, the task force met every two weeks and subcommittees met during off weeks.
The job of the task force was to identify commencement problems and find ways to improve it for students, their families and the staff working during the events.
The task force has no plans to reconvene now that its final report has been published, Orlando said.
Anthony Rojas, a 23-year-old political science master’s student, doesn’t think the university handled the task force properly.
Rojas said President Fuchs and the administration should have acted with more transparency during the process instead of conducting meetings behind closed doors and not letting students voice their concerns.
“If they really wanted to involve the students, they should have hosted a town hall-style meeting where students could come talk to Fuchs and the rest of the task force in person,” Rojas said.
Rojas hopes that the university will finally take the steps possible to give graduates the ceremonies they deserve.
Leah Paxton waits alongside her fellow graduates Saturday morning during the class of 2019 commencement ceremony at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. About 200 graduates attended for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences ceremony, which was held two weeks after the original commencement at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium was cancelled due to poor weather conditions.
