<p>BA complete and submitted yesterday, so that must mean Commencement is fast approaching. Things have changed since our eldest graduated in 2007 and I would love to hear the details of the new format. The Baccalaureate on Friday is apparently the same, although with a much larger class (there were less than 1,000 students in my son's class) I suspect we will have to arrive at the Chapel even earlier to insure seating. On Saturday, what are the details of the "lunch pick-up" after the morning, University-wide Commencement. We will have grandparents with us whose mobility is limited and I'm trying to figure out how all this is going to work. </p>
<p>Hotel reservations are made, some dinner reservations confirmed, but actual "day of" details are hard to pin down. I suspect it will be necessary to get to the quad quite early Saturday morning to get seats, as well. It was quite warm 4 years ago, so being in the sun effectively from 8am-3:30pm might be difficult too. Lots of water and hats!</p>
<p>Congratulations to the Class of 2011 and their families. I don't know about all of you, but as a parent, I will miss our 8 years in Hyde Park.</p>
<p>MSI is ~1-1.5 miles from Rockerfeller Chapel. Harper Quad is located on the main quads (for lunch), the crerar/science quad is 2-3 blocks away depending on where you will be sitting. Yeah, you will want to get there early Friday if you want to sit in the chapel.</p>
<p>I don’t remember having a lot of trouble getting a seat for the Baccalaureate in the chapel two years ago (when the class was 1300+), although we did get there somewhat early. The speech (by an economics professor) was OK, but nothing you couldn’t hear on Fox News any day. Then my kid left when she realized the rest of the program was totally controlled by the fraternity/sorority set. I stayed to see what they had to say, but it was a waste of time. I’m certainly not going to insist on going this year.</p>
<p>-CS, thanks. The locations I know, I’ve had kids on the campus for 8 years now. And JHS, I know what you mean about the Bacc, but my kid has friends in sororities/fraternities, so I doubt their involvement would turn her off completely. Now boring speeches, perhaps! Prof speaking 4 years ago was actually quite amusing, if I remember correctly. Just got a link to a new website set up for commencement from the Parents and Families newsletter, so most of my questions have now been answered.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input about the Baccalaureate. We’re getting in too late to attend, but I guess I don’t mind! I think it’s a speech by an economics professor–I know my daughter thought it was an overly predictable choice. Let’s hope for beautiful weather.</p>