The first of two Meadows town hall meetings met Wednesday in the Bob Hope Theatre to discuss the logistics of the upcoming Diploma Ceremony on May 17. The second meeting was held yesterday in Umphrey Lee room 244.

The meetings were called to address concerns that had arisen last year about the traditional location of the ceremony, the front entrance of the Owens Fine Arts Center. Believing that many students were unhappy with the traditional location, Associate Dean Kevin Hofeditz says the school tried to change some aspects of the ceremony to rectify the situation.

“We had the impression that a lot of students were in support of the change,” he said. “Well, we announced the change and soon realized that a lot of students weren’t in support of the change – quite the contrary.”

Because of student reactions, the ceremony was moved back to its original location. According to Hofeditz, the recent town hall meetings were a response to last year’s situation.

“We probably won’t have this discussion next year,” he said. “Given what we went through last year – what we thought what people wanted – we’re taking this opportunity to get some feedback.”

Hofeditz says that the outside location creates several difficulties for everyone involved in the ceremony.

“It’s not perfect,” he said. “A lot of the sight lines are bad. Heat is a problem, as is the fact that it could rain. Having it outside is costly – we have to pay for the chairs and everything that goes along with it. It’s also labor intensive.”

Although rain is always a possibility, Hofeditz noted that it has not rained for the past 15 years.

“There have been a couple of ceremonies that have been miserable heat-wise,” he said. “There have been some that were slightly uncomfortable. There were also some that weren’t too bad.”

Hofeditz says that even when it isn’t hot enough to have the outside ceremony prohibited, the heat makes a lot of people uncomfortable. Dean José Bowen also noted that the heat is a major problem for those sitting in the sun saying, “If you’ve ever spent an afternoon in Texas, you know that shade makes a difference.”

“Students sit in the shade while their family sits looking into the sun,” he said. “I can throw out all the water bottles that we’ve got, but I don’t want anybody’s grandma passing out.”

Faculty members have expressed a desire to have the ceremony moved inside, where air conditioning is available, according to Bowen. He noted that the heat is hard on many faculty members because they wear heavier robes.

“They had a greater interest to have it indoors than outdoors,” he said, “but that shouldn’t be the deciding factor.”

In contrast to having the traditional ceremony, Hofeditz says that having an indoor ceremony, whether intentional or because of rain, would provide two options.

“We’d either attempt to have a full ceremony with everyone or have four separate ceremonies at the same time,” he said. “Seating would be limited. It would involve tickets that would be free, but it would create a limited amount of guests for each graduate.”

A full ceremony would take place in McFarlin Auditorium, which has been the planned location of the ceremony in the event of rain for several years. Another suggestion would be to divide the departments of the school into four separate ceremonies held in different places at the same time.

“They would have all had sufficient pomp and circumstance,” Hofeditz said, “plus it would be a little more casual and a little more intimate.”

Student suggestions included a separate section set aside in the shade that would be reserved for those persons who become affected by the heat. Another student suggested putting up tents, such as the ones used before each home football game, behind the audience in case the weather became too hot for some people.

Most students said that the option of splitting the ceremony into four groups was not something they wanted as a first choice. They noted the creation of MUM, the Movement to Unite Meadows, which has strived to bring the school together over the past semester. Other students said the option of breaking up the ceremony was a viable choice for a back-up plan in case of rain.

Hofeditz says that the suggestions given by the students, in addition to the faculty, will be used to help figure out how the ceremony will take place.

“Ultimately they may or may not make the decision,” he said. “Let’s put it this way: We want student input. We want to hear what’s going on.”