SOPHIE HUMMEL / ASST. NEWS EDITOR

On April 2, USD announced the separation of Knauss School of Business (KSB) and the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering (SMSE) undergraduate ceremonies. The combined ceremony was originally scheduled for May 24 at 9 a.m. However, engineering students will now be graduating on May 23 at 1 p.m. 

In an Instagram post announcing the change, USD explained the record number of graduates choosing to participate in the KSB and SMSE commencement ceremonies would exceed the capacity        of the Jenny Craig Pavilion. 

“To ensure the safety of our guests and remain in compliance with fire code regulations, we are splitting the ceremonies to provide a better experience for everyone,” USD wrote.

Commencement is one of the University’s largest annual events, bringing together thousands of relatives, friends and guests. 

The announcement came less than two months before graduation and the change has created challenges for families who had already made travel arrangements based on the original commencement date.

USD       senior Brynn Gerty explained how she feels about the change.

“With all of the senior festivities, not graduating on the same day as any of my roommates or the majority of my friends feels kind of isolating,” Gerty said.

The rescheduling changed the number of guests graduates may bring. Engineering graduates can now invite unlimited guests, while students   graduating    the following day remain limited to six tickets.

  USD senior Tony Whalen is graduating      with a B.S. in computer science and remarked on the way this disparity affected his peers. 

    “A lot of people who are outside of  the engineering school, are not necessarily happy with [the date change] because … engineering students get unlimited tickets now,” Whalen said.

Speculation continues among students about how long the University was aware of the issue before its announcement. 

USD senior Evan Walls is majoring in integrated engineering and is frustrated by the  timing   of    the   announcement.

“I think with something as big as graduation USD should and probably did know about there being an overcapacity issue months ago so it’s kind of frustrating, hearing about it a month before graduation, “ Walls said.

The University’s Commencement Committee explained why the ceremony split occurred and how the ceremony might look.

“Capacity issues that existed in a combined ceremony are no longer an issue for the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering undergraduate ceremony, so we removed guest limits for that ceremony,” the Commencement Committee wrote in a written statement. “The need to uncouple the ceremonies came from the fact that there were more Business graduates eligible. So, we   anticipate that   we’ll still have a full house in the JCP with the number of Business graduates and their set number of guests.”

USD senior Sam Jorgenson has family members who now won’t be able to attend the ceremony due to the changes.

“I did have a couple family members that originally were going to come down on Saturday and so now they actually can’t come anymore because they won’t make  it in  time which is a bit  of a  bummer,”  Jorgenson said. 

As graduation approaches, some families are now adjusting travel plans while others are finding the change works in their favor.