Offices accept ticket forms
By Laura Pelner
Campus
Editor
The deadline to order commencement tickets and
receive the guaranteed four per student is today. Tickets will be mailed
out beginning Wednesday.
Students who still need tickets should return their
request form to the Loeb Playhouse Box Office in Stewart Center or the
Elliott Hall of Music Box Office.
Marilyn Marshall, assistant registrar for academic
record services, said that each commencement ticket a student receives
is to be used expressly for family members.
She said she has heard of people trying to buy
more tickets or sell the ones they have, though it is against University
policy. Tickets to graduation are free and Marshall said, "The buying
and selling of tickets is strictly prohibited."
Marshall said the Office of the Registrar confronts
students who try to sell their tickets and those students may eventually
be sent to the Office of the Dean of Students.
Tony Hawkins, dean of students, said no one has
been brought in for misusing the graduation ticket system this year.
He said those who do abuse the system will only hurt other graduates.
"If they misuse the system it's obviously going to impact the number
of people who attend the ceremony," he said.
Hawkins said that if students take advantage of
the free tickets it will cause distribution problems and the University
may review the process. "I think now (there is) a fair system," said
Hawkins. "I hate to think some students are so profit-oriented it ruins
the system."
Marshall said the Office of the Registrar can track
information about people selling commencement tickets and members of
the office do contact those students.
For students who have a large family, there are
methods to get more tickets. Marshall said students who do not need
all four of their guaranteed ones should return them to the office so
they can be redistributed. Also, when students turn in their ticket
information at the box office they should ask for an extra ticket request
card.
Marshall said that if tickets are left over they
will be given out beginning Thursday to students who filled out a request
card. After those requests are filled, any additional tickets will be
distributed on May 4 through Room 55 of Hovde Hall.
"Commencement is the culmination of so many hard
years," said Marshall. "Our goal is to make a perfect day."
Christine Leasure, administrative assistant in
the Registrar's office, said, "Even if students have a large family,
just the procession (into Elliott Hall of Music) is something to see
… The day itself, inside or outside the auditorium, is something
to see."
This semester preliminary numbers show that 5,372
people are eligible to graduate in May, which is about 200 candidates
more than last year.
Every year commencement ceremonies, which usually
average 900 to 1,000 participants each, seem to be getting bigger. Marshall
said this is probably because of Purdue's active recruitment and high
retention rates, and she anticipates the University will continue to
have larger graduation ceremonies.
|
