Arts Students Too Poor To Attend Graduation

by Julia Hollingsworth | 2:28 pm 11/07/2010

Graduation fever has hit town, with Science graduation taking place on Saturday. 500 students graduated in person, and 110 students in absentia.

The Commerce and Law graduations will take place this weekend with 429 students graduated in person, and 70 in absentia. The Arts graduation has 339 people graduating in person and 256 in absentia, and will take place on the following weekend. In recent times, between 4 500 and 5 000 students have graduated per year.

The ceremonies are organised by the Graduation Office, which is aided by 40 or 50 “highly-dedicated volunteers.” Academic regalia can be hired from the Federation of Graduate Women, at the cost of $30 a gown. Hoods are $15, as are caps, which are worn by doctoral graduates.

While the formal aspect of graduation is important, the highlight of each weekend for many graduates will be the Grad Party, organised by Wilder Productions. Director Callum Fry began working on getting the party together in September, and it will feature “class acts” such as Knives at Noon, hip hop quad Home Brew, and Six 60.

A number of wealthy and extremely well organised parents treated their darlings to dinner at Plato on Saturday, where bookings for graduation filled up in December last year. Plato is busiest in May and December each year, during which times no staff are allowed to take time off. At the other end of the dining spectrum Blue Sky Restaurant also saw an increase in bookings for Saturday, and had to roster more staff on. Unlike Plato, which offers a three-course meal for $64 per head, Blue Sky has no special graduation menu.

Major incidents at graduation are very rare, although staff from St John Ambulance Service are usually on-site as a precaution. Former Chancellor Lindsay Brown recalled an unusual occurrence in a February 2009 Otago Magazine profile. As Brown shook one graduate’s hand, the graduate pressed a folded $5 note into his palm. “I wondered if it was part of a bet, or if he thought he should give me a tip, or maybe he had a guilty conscience about an unpaid library fine!”

In addition to the Grad Parties, a Pacific Graduation breakfast and a pre-graduation ceremony put on by the Maori Centre are being held.

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