At the local high school the baccalaureate had religious overtones that I was uncomfortable with. Is that the case fro the U of C baccalaureate?
Baccalaureate:
a religious service held at some educational institutions before commencement, containing a farewell sermon to the graduating class.
Religious? yes, a little bit, but we were covered in joy and really did not mind some religious songs and remarks etc.
Here is the 2014 program
Prelude
processional
opening remarks
presentation of the class tile
dance interlude
senior memories and photos
musical interlude
remains of education address(by a bio professor)
sending forth
alumni pinning
singing of the alma mater
closing remarks
postlude
If I recall correctly, the religious parts were brief segments of the program where students prayed or sang in their own faith tradition. There was diversity, and nothing that one would call a sermon.
Baccalaureate ceremony (as a student that had many friends that performed in it) was awesome. I highly recommend going (and getting in line ~1.5 hours early to get a decent seat). My parents enjoyed this more than Saturday’s events (except maybe the 10 seconds when I walked across the stage).
Night at MSI was pretty boring for my family. I think they all left after being there for 30 minutes (except for my aunt who wanted a picture of me on stage as I had helped out with the class gift committee but left after that happened). I enjoyed hanging out with my friends.
Day of, don’t worry too much about getting a good seat in the morning. During lunch, all the graduate schools leave to go to their respective ceremonies which means you can get a MUCH better seat for the afternoon.
Another recommendation is getting your after-graduation dinner plans booked early! A lot of places (especially if you have a larger party) will book up early. And you’ll want to leave a good amount of time after the ceremony and your dinner reservation as there are receptions that follow which I ended up wanting to stay at a lot longer than I would have guessed.
Chicago is a large city, for after graduation dinner party, you just do not book restaurants in Hyde Park. We booked a table of 10 in a restaurant 30 min from the campus and there was no problem at all.
Oh, wasn’t trying to say it will be hard to get a reservation. I just wouldn’t leave it until the last minute if there is a specific place you want to go. And I definitely recommend going downtown. I was sick of Hyde Park restaurants after eating at them for 4 years (though I miss the Snail and the Med now that I don’t live in Chicago).
^^ Don’t you miss the noodle house as well?
Nah. Noodles is definitely replaceable (along with Cedars, Pizza Capri, and The Sit Down – the 6 places I went to most often).
But I miss the Snail’s bangkok chicken and Medici’s thin-crust spinach and goat cheese pizza because I haven’t found anything like either anywhere else.