USF St. Petersburg students graduate Dec. 9 at The Mahaffey Theater, 401 First St. S. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
By Brianna Rodriguez
When the time comes to finally walk across the graduation stage, it’s usually one of excitement. Instead, for students graduating this semester from the College of Arts and Sciences, it’s stressful.
At the end of October, the university sent an email to students graduating from the college, informing them that the commencement time was changed from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Although a three-hour time change doesn’t seem significant, the late announcement caused negative effects for many students.
“It was very sudden and unprofessional,” said Jerry Cano, a senior biomedical sciences major, in a Facebook message. “The email came out on a Friday evening, so even if we wanted to call someone, there wouldn’t be anyone to answer. I had to go and reprint the new invitations, costing me even more money.”
Cano spent an additional $40 on invitations to print them with the new time. If he didn’t use the envelopes from his previous order, it would have cost an another $60.
Marilyn Bloomberg, a senior journalism major, voiced her concerns about flights affected by the change.
“My brother is flying out from New York to St. Pete for the first time,” she said in a Facebook message. “He’s coming specifically to see me graduate, and he can’t even do that because he has a flight home at 6 p.m. The airport is 50-75 (minutes) away during rush hour. I am really angry about that. It’s a big deal for us.”
Bloomberg created a Facebook post asking why the commencement changed. The post sparked many comments from frustrated students that were impacted by the change.
“For other people, grad announcements have to be reprinted, flights need to be changed, gas wasted, and more. It’s a real waste for a lot of us,” she said in a Facebook message. “Haven’t we given the university enough money-wise?”
Lilibel Cano, a 2017 graduate, commented on the post on behalf of her brother, Jerry. Although born in the United States, the Canos are first-generation college students whose family is from Puebla, Mexico. Cano explained that graduation is a big deal because of that.
Unlike other students, Mackenzie Hatcher, a senior English major, was looking forward to her husband watching her walk across the stage while he’s stationed in Afghanistan.
“I’m definitely annoyed by the time change. My husband is deployed to Afghanistan (8.5 hours ahead) so he would be able to watch me walk,” she said in a Facebook comment. “But now that they shifted the time back, he’ll be sleeping and probably have to watch a replay or something.”
After several attempts to reach out to the university about the reason for the time change, university spokeswoman Carrie O’Brion sent The Crow’s Nest an email statement.
“We are very sorry for any inconvenience the change in the commencement times may be causing students and their families,” the email said. “We are committed to helping any student who is experiencing difficulties and ask them to please contact Conference/Event Planner Christine Apple directly at apple@mail.usf.edu. She will work with affected students to find solutions.”
