What about that Class Day?

Dorothy Denburg, dean of Barnard College; senior class dean Aaron Schneider; Katie Palillo, BC ‘10 and SGA president; Chelsea Zimmerman, BC ‘10 and senior class president; and Lillian Appel, manager for dean’s project and programs,, met with Barnard seniors in 202 Altschul to discuss the controversy of Barnard’s 2010 commencement being held in Dodge Gym.

Dean Denburg kicked it off with an apology to the senior class that it was not notified immediately, saying, “in retrospect, we probably should have done an all-class e-mail blast.”

The date was  moved due to a major religious holiday conflict, but then Barnard learned it could not use the South Lawn. “However, we were not notified until the end of August that that change of date would affect our ability to be on South Lawn. The move from Wednesday to Tuesday eliminated one full day in which the tent should be scheduled.”

Denburg reported that the original time-slot given to Barnard by Columbia in Dodge was poor, but the other school was kind enough to give Barnard its regular time of graduation. She prioritized the number of tickets per graduate, being on Barnard’s campus, outdoor vs. indoor ceremonies, proximity to campus, ability to attend postceremony receptions, ability to hear and see the speakers and graduates, and travel time, as issues of concern.

A heated debate then sprang up between Denburg and a senior about the reason why Barnard’s commencement was the one that was moved, not a Columbia subsidiary like SEAS. Denburg wished to be off-the-record on a certain remark, but the student retorted that, as this was a public forum, that right did not hold. That same student enquired about Baker Field as a space, but Denburg added that the university did not consider it an option, because “it’s difficult for families to travel up there” and “Baker Field is too big for us.” She added, “We had already explored all the spaces on the Columbia campus, other spaces in Morningside Heights, and other spaces downtown.” St. John the Divine and Riverside Church were named as too small. Appel said that no other space would fit as many people; Denburg said Riverside Park would need a city permit which the mayor might not grant. Proximity to campus for receptions was another issue Denburg brought up.

The dean added that Barnard’s relationship to Columbia was a more independent one compared to that of SEAS and direct subsidiaries, which is why its date was bumped. “I think it’s a little ironic it says ‘Columbia’ on our degrees,” added one student, if Columbia did not give the same attention to Barnard as it did to other schools. “Not only is it not on our campus, but it’s in an underground” gym, exclaimed one irate student. Denburg specified that Columbia did not mandate that the graduation be held in Dodge.

“We are not the only school that is not going to be on South Lawn,” Denburg said, saying several graduate schools will not be, either. She noted that the administration could reconsider the idea of graduation in the Diana once the wall around it comes down in November, but, if the site was moved, the number of tickets would be reduced. The Diana event space, she estimated, would sit around 500.” And, at the end of the day, the building that the architects delivered…would eliminate a number of seats,” she said. Denburg would make 202 Altschul, Held Auditorum, and the Diana event space simulcast areas and give two tickets to each student. “We seated 400 people on the Plaza between Macintosh and Altschul each year” in the past, she said, and the slope of the new steps would prohibit that amount of people sitting on Lehman Lawn; it would be difficult to determine the exact amount there, though, until the wall comes down. “Everybody should have the prerogative of weighing in on the value assigned to the number of tickets,” said Denburg.

“We don’t want to graduate in a gym,” one student said flatly. All of the other issues boiled down to that, she said, with another student chiming in that it would be “embarrassing” to graduate there. ”We pay so much money to come here,” the first student said, with the “image of graduating in a gym [being] that [which] upsets me and upsets my family.” The idea of a “basketball hoop over where we’re graduating” would tarnish Barnard’s image, she said. “It’s even further removed” from Barnard symbolism by being on Columbia’s campus, said another senior.

To offset that remark, “it has been our plan to make a substantial investment in decorating the room,” Denburg said, adding that Giselle León, BC ‘10, and Kim Wu, BC ‘10, walked through the campus and the gym with two party planners engaged by the Board of Trustees for the Scholar Gala, to take a look at the room’s appearance. It would be covered in decorations with “splendid huge banners created for President Spar’s inauguration” that would be put up, Denburg said, and would “cover the whole back of the wall where the basketball hoop and the Ivy banners are now. We did not do that in 2006 because we made a last minute rain call.” She noted that, in her time at Barnard, she had only attended commencement in the gym twice, saying that there would enough money to transform the gym. “It’s going to scream ‘blue fabric, Barnard, Barnard, Barnard,’” said Denburg. One student suggested TV screens on the lawn so guests could see their graduate.

“If you were graduating in my class, you’d have no problem, because my class was so small….my class graduated on the quad lawn,” Denburg said. “I will tell you as  mother, the most heartbreaking commencement experience I’ve ever had was my oldest daughter graduated summa cum laude from a university without a rain plan…” She was to lead the procession, but, “because they had no rain plan…twenty minutes into the ceremony, they called it for rain. From my point of view, I think having the guarantee for a planned-for ceremony…is that you can count on the fact that you’re going to have your ceremony.” Another student put forth that Barnard as second-rate to Columbia and the idea that-years should be made aware of a perceived waste of $50,000 a year. “..the fact that we’re not on South Lawn does not make us second-class,” fired back Denburg, saying that was “an attitude and that your reading of it is simply a different reading” than her own. “I don’t see that the venue determines the occasion,” she added. “You can make that choice [to move to Lehman Lawn],” she said, but sacrifices would need to be made.

Lack of student involvement was brought up.”We were already just nine months…away from commencement,” said Denburg, when the Barnard administration was told that it could not use South Lawn. The decision came down to Dodge or fewer seats per graduate, “left in nine months with the choice of finding some other public venue.  If you have an image that we spent weeks deciding with no students involved, it’s like we had 24 hours” to decide.

Students began blurting out complaints until a Speakers’ List was organized. “The priority should be making the location we’re proud to graduate from,” said a student, saying that the location of graduation does not matter, but that graduating from Barnard is what is important. Others had heard that the decision on the gym was final, leading to a lack of attendance at the meeting. Denburg agreed to revisit the matter in mid-November when the Diana wall comes down, while Appel would see how many students and guests could fit on Lehman Lawn. “I don’t think you should tell people how to feel,” one student said in response to another student, saying that the class should focus on the upcoming speaker and noting that Dodge would be air-conditioned, against Barnard’s “go green” policy.

Finally, the students watched a DVD of Barnard’s 2006 commencement, held in Dodge as a rain location with no decoration. Some echoed the sentiment that it was “fine,” while others complained of “gym-lighting” and bleachers. No finagling could be done to get South Lawn, it was repeated.