After a long debate, the Commencement committee has decided the College will hold this year's Commencement, scheduled for June 9, on the Green, marking the second straight year the location of the ceremony has been changed.
Last year, acting President James Wright opted to move Commencement from its traditional location on the lawn in front of Baker Library to Memorial Field.
The move was made in order to accommodate the unusually large number of people expected to attend because President Bill Clinton gave the keynote address at last year's Commencement.
This year's ceremony will be on Green -- just south of Baker lawn -- rain or shine.
The new location will seat 10 to 12 thousand people compared to the 8,700 seats that fit directly in front of Baker.
"The farthest chair is much closer [to the podium] than it ever was on Baker lawn," said Barbara Whipple, chair of the committee.
She added that the seating arrangement "does better job of accommodating graduates and their families."
The rows in the new arrangement are three times as long as they were in front of Baker and this positioning allows a greater number of people to be seated in an area close to the podium, Whipple said.
College President James Freedman said he favors the slight location change.
"I think it is a good plan," he said. "It is going to permit many more people to see the ceremony," he said.
Freedman added, "we have always had a problem particularly with grandparents who just can't see because the rows extended so far back."
The Commencement committee reached this decision after struggling with logistical problems and considering student concern about the old location, Whipple said.
Whipple said the Commencement committee "dealt with a lot of issues with venues."
She described the process of coming up with the new location as "putting all the pieces and experience together while taking into consideration the students' opinion."
Student opinion was "a primary factor" in deciding on this year's location, Whipple said.
She said Commencement belongs to the students and is "a big deal in tradition for the College and [the committee] did not want to ruin that."
The Commencement committee solicited student opinion by sending out a survey to seniors and graduate students.
The survey results showed seniors overwhelmingly wanted Commencement to be held "in the vicinity of Baker Library" according to a College news release.
The results also revealed that students wanted Commencement to be held outdoors -- regardless of the weather.
In case of rain "there are four or five different scenarios that involve postponement of the ceremony, yet still call for it to be held on the same day," Whipple said.
In case of severe weather conditions "we would have to consider an indoor location, but that is an extreme option," she said.
