The much-anticipated wait is over for Montclair State University’s graduating seniors.
Tuesday, Feb. 7, an email was sent to the Montclair State community announcing when and where graduation will take place.
Family and friends of graduating seniors can gather at the Prudential Center on May 23, 2023, to watch students collect their diplomas.
The commencement has been split into three different ceremonies based on the graduates’ college. These will replace the convocations usually held on Sprague Field. The Ceremonies are as follows: 8:30 a.m. for Feliciano School of Business and College of the Arts, 2 p.m. for College of Humanities and Social Sciences, School of Nursing and University College and 7:30 p.m. for College of Education and Human Services and College of Science and Mathematics.
Students are excited about graduation but disappointed there is not one big ceremony.
Carly Delucca, a senior sustainability science major, is one of them.
“I’m satisfied with my time, it’s at night and I get to sleep in,” Delucca said. “But my friends graduate at different times like 8:30 in the morning. So now I’m going to have to come back at two different times in the day.”
Carly Delucca is satisfied with her time for commencement.
Hannah Effinger | The Montclarion Photo credit: Hannah Effinger
Cathryn Pace, a senior television and digital media major with a concentration in sports media, wishes there were still two ceremonies.
“I thought it was great, [the two different ceremonies], because I don’t want to sit through the university’s whole thing because that is too much,” Pace said. “It is bittersweet though, because one of my best friends here is a business major, so I do get to graduate at the same time as her, but it sucks that I have to graduate at 8:30 in the morning.”
Alyssa Sierra, a senior visual communication design major, was shocked after receiving the email.
“8:30 in the morning is way too early,” Sierra said. “I think we should at least arrive by that time and find parking. I can already see myself running late.”
Sierra doesn’t mind the change in the combination of commencement and the convocation.
“I’m not mad about it,” Sierra said. “I think it’s just going to be really long.”
The university wants to remind graduating students that the application deadline for graduation is Feb. 15 and to get that in as soon as possible. For more information visit https://www.montclair.edu/commencement/.
