AUC Moves to One Commencement Ceremony a Year

Students at AUC said they are saddened and shocked by the administration’s decision to change the commencement system to one ceremony per year.

“Like most universities in the United States of our size, we will hold a commencement once each academic year held in June,” Vice-President of Student Life Deena Boraie said in an email to the AUC community October 9.

Traditionally, AUC has held two commencement ceremonies every year – one in February and one in June.

This year’s fall (or mid-year) commencement in February 2019 will be modeled after the new school-based format and be the last to be held by the university.

According to the new format, all ceremonies will now be conducted by each individual school under the supervision of their deans, and be held on the same day.

The decision left some students frustrated, while others appeared satisfied with the one-ceremony-per-year format.

“This is not fair because why shouldn’t I have a proper ceremony just because I am graduating during fall?” Zeina Mansour, a junior and double major in Graphic Design and Integrated Marketing Communication, told The Caravan.  

But Petroleum Engineering junior Abdel Hamid Charaf doesn’t mind the change because restricting ceremonies to individual schools will ensure that they are better organized.

“School-based ceremonies provide an intimate and personal experience for students, where they will be recognized individually. Names of the graduates will be read aloud as they cross the stage and receive their diplomas,” said Boraie in her email.

“Students who graduate this fall will be welcome to participate in the University-wide June 2019 Centennial Commencement Celebration,” added Boraie.

As for the Centennial graduating class, students and their families will be invited to attend two events this June – a school-based ceremony and a university-wide celebration. This will be the model in June of every academic year.

But Mansour says that such a system is biased against students accepted into university in the spring semester. Most of them will end up graduating during the fall cycle and have to wait until June to be recognized and receive their diplomas.

Business Finance Senior Dina Abdel-Fattah, who is expected to graduate in Spring 2019, is worried that the new format could unravel because of the sheer number of students at the ceremonies.

Omar Atef, chief representation officer of the Student Union, told The Caravan that they wanted to have a school-based ceremony for every fall graduating class, but that the administration rejected the proposal.

“However in the email, Dr. Boraie stated that starting Fall 2019 including all upcoming fall semesters commencement will be cancelled,” Atef added.

Atef said that the SU is hoping to resume dialogue with the administration to better accommodate student needs. The SU also pledged to organize celebratory events in the AUC gardens following the formal events.

“I also believe that it is a smart decision so that we all gather after receiving the certificate,” said Charaf.

In the meantime, the onus will now be on the deans of schools to organize their graduation ceremonies.

Boraie said that the Office of Student Life will form a commencement committee in the coming weeks that includes student participation to start work on organizing and executing the university-wide June 2019 Centennial Commencement Celebration.