This year’s seniors will be graduating on the Wayside field, breaking the longstanding tradition of Commencement’s taking place across from pond. This move is a consequence of the new turf athletic field, which is not compatible with the stakes used to anchor the large tent used at graduation activities.

Brianny Vasquez ’20, senior class co-president, attended all the meetings this summer when the Student Council discussed options for graduation. “We really went through every possible solution. We asked could we weigh the tent down with the water jugs? Could we get poles to hold down the tent? It turned out both of those options were not possible. Since graduating on that field is just not an option, we asked, could we do it on the varsity soccer field? Would people like that? What would be the route the seniors would follow in their procession? Would it start at Beveridge and then the pond and back to the varsity soccer field? How can we overcome the poor drainage of the varsity soccer field? There was so much moving to consider. We were trying to find any solution, so we looked at the Google map of campus and mapped out the best option.” She explained, “In the end, we realized the only option that would work best for us is graduating on the Wayside field.”

There have been mixed responses from the seniors. During a senior class meeting, some students worried that Wayside is “downright ugly.” One student even proposed forming a committee to “make Wayside pretty” in hopes of creating a more attractive background for graduation photos. Brianny suggests to seniors that Buildings and Grounds “is really good at communication. If you communicate to them that you want a certain flower or decoration, or if you want the grass to be greener, I’m sure it can be done. They are understanding of how this isn’t the most ideal situation, and so they are willing to work with us and accommodate.” 

Class officers are mindful of some seniors’ disappointment from the change in venue. Brianny acknowledged that “people are so used to having graduation on the main field, and that’s how we always imagined we would do it. We didn’t receive news of the turf field until it actually happened, and we didn’t really expect that it would affect our graduation.”