Convocations, which were not a part of last year’s commencement ceremony will be reinstated for the graduation ceremony of June 2018.
Photo courtesy of Dan Falkenheim
In a statement to the Montclair State community, Provost Willard Gingerich announced that the university will reinstate convocation ceremonies for May 2018.
The announcement comes after convocation was removed last year due to logistical problems, including having enough seating at the football field, along with the threat of rain at the outdoor ceremony. The convocation ceremonies are smaller, intimate ceremonies on Sprague Field for each of the different colleges at Montclair State.
The removal of these ceremonies meant that students were left with only the commencement ceremony to attend if they wanted to walk across the stage to celebrate graduating from college. Commencement includes the graduates from all colleges which made both the Jan. and May 2017 commencement longer and more stressful for some students.
There will be no January commencement for undergraduates. Students graduating after the fall 2017 semester will have to wait until the May commencement at the Prudential Center on May 25. Names will not be read at commencement.
Additionally, six different convocation ceremonies will be held on campus for the six colleges at Montclair State from May 18-21. These colleges include the School of Nursing, College of the Arts, College of Education and Human Services, College of Humanities and Sciences, College of Science and Mathematics and the Feliciano School of Business.
Graduate students will have two commencement ceremonies at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center on Jan. 14 and May 22. Names of students will be read at these ceremonies and there will be no convocation for graduate students.
Junior filmmaking major Kayla Wrigley said that having the option of going to either ceremony is beneficial, because students who cannot attend one ceremony can attend the other.
Senior journalism major Lataya Rothmiller remembered Montclair State removing these ceremonies last year and said she is glad that they will be coming back for her own graduation in May.
“Now [my family] will be able to see me when I am graduating,” Rothmiller said.
