Commencement ceremonies to take place Saturday

On Saturday, a procession of students will stretch from the Harry Gladstein Fieldhouse to Assembly Hall, where they will sit with red, blue, green and various other colored tassels.\nThe students will be graduating in the 179th Commencement ceremony, and grouped according to the school they are graduating from and their major. About 5,000 students will graduate at Assembly Hall with about 2,500 per ceremony, said Robin Gress, secretary of the IU Board of Trustees. Commencement will be held in two sessions – one at 10 a.m. and one at 3 p.m. \n“It’s a very traditional ceremony,” Gress said.\nAmong the eight different IU campuses, 16,049 students will graduate, Gress said. \nWill Shortz, crossword editor for the New York Times, will be the guest speaker at commencement. Shortz graduated from IU in 1974 with an Individualized Major Program degree in enigmatology, or the study of puzzles. \n“He has a very eclectic background, and he’s just the kind of person who pursues his own path,” Gress said. “He helps to show there really are no limits on someone’s future.”\nStudents are excited about the speaker this year, expressing disappointment with some of IU’s previous commencement speakers. Graduate student Doug Evans, who will receive his master’s degree Saturday, voiced his disappointment in the previous choice of former Indiana first lady Judy O’Bannon in 2005.\n“I was unimpressed with the speaker,” Evans said. “It was very routine, and she was just spouting out generic lines.”\nGress advised families to arrive early, because parking will be more limited than usual due to construction.\n“We’re sending an e-mail to all candidates about seating,” Gress said. “A lot of people who come to all the sporting events come to the same spot, and it might not be there.”\nNames of graduating seniors will not be read at commencement due to the volume of graduates.\n“As much as we would like to call out everyone’s name, with 2,500 people per ceremony it would take a week,” Gress said. “Also, a lot of people don’t have the patience to wait.”\nOther students voiced their frustration about not being able to have their voice heard in commencement. \n“I paid four years of tuition and I want someone to say my name,” said graduating senior Robert Winet. “I would wait to hear my name called.”\nMany graduating seniors choose not to go to commencement.\n“If my family was going, it would be much different,” said graduating senior Sean Gertsch. “It doesn’t make sense to spend all of that money if my family isn’t coming.”\nFor students such as Winet and Evans, though, commencement is a much more exciting process.\n“I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to go through commencement,” Winett said. “I’m graduating from college. That’s so huge!”