By Amrit Brown
The primary location for Hood College’s 2025 Commencement ceremonies has been moved to Woodsboro Bank Arena.
The change comes as a response to issues with weather in the past, including rain and severe heat. It also includes a change to two separate ceremonies for undergraduate and graduate students.
The decision was made by the commencement committee with the approval of the senior team.
The inside ceremony will still include families, but students will receive a limited number of tickets, according to the Vice President for Marketing and Communications Laurie Ward. She is unsure of the specific number at this point.
For families that cannot attend because of the smaller number of tickets, the AV equipment has been upgraded to improve the live-stream quality.
James Gruenfelder, a senior at Hood, is frustrated by the change. “My bigger family planned to come out and watch the ceremony as I will be the first college graduate in my family,” he said. “I am upset at the school for this decision. It seems every year they remove more and more from our college experience. I understand that this move can be for ‘weather control,’ but it is not necessary if the weather is nice,” he added.
In the past, Woodsboro Bank Arena was the backup option in case of problems with the weather.
Other students have already had reactions to the decision. “We have heard from about 10 students and those concerns have been forwarded to the commencement committee to review to see if the plans can be altered,” Ward said.
Gruenfelder was hoping to have an outside ceremony. “For the past three years, I’ve seen the ceremony set up outside and it looks great,” he said. “That was something I was looking forward to.
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