Yale Bulletin and Calendar

May 17-31, 1999

Volume 27, Number 32

Commencement, 1999 Style

Just as every graduate of Yale University is unique, so is every Yale graduation.

This year, several new twists have been added to the time-honored traditions marking the University's 1999 Commencement activities, Saturday-Monday, May 22-24.

Commencement on cable

Comcast Cable expects to carry a live transmission of the University-wide graduation ceremony on Old Campus at 10:30 a.m. on May 24.

Plans also call for both Commencement and the Class Day ceremony on May 23 to be televised live over the new Yale Cable system, which serves the residential colleges and other campus buildings.

Yale's Audio-Visual Department (A-V) has been videotaping Commencement for many years now, both for documentation purposes and to provide coverage for overflow seating, explains John Meickle, associate director of telecommunications in ITS-Telecommunications.

The images captured by the A-V camera were "televised selectively in the past," says Meickle, in sites such as Battell Chapel, where coverage of the event is provided for those whose health prevents them from attending the Old Campus ceremonies.

This year, the A-V signal will be fed into the central switch room in University Commons, and from there, it will be sent to the Yale Cable system on Channel 8 and to Comcast Cable subscribers in New Haven, West Haven and Hamden on Comcast's Channel 8.

To keep things simple this fledgling year, the Commencement and Class Day ceremonies will be filmed using only one camera, explains Meickle, although he expects that may change in future years.

Parking predicament

While Commencement usually falls during the Memorial Day holiday, the 1999 graduation ceremony will take place on a work day, posing the potential for a parking "crunch" in Yale lots and along city streets.

The Pierson-Sage Garage and the adjacent Yale lots 16 and 18 on Whitney Avenue near the Josiah W. Gibbs Research Laboratories are designated Commencement parking areas. Shuttle buses will be on hand throughout the day to transport guests between these parking sites and the central campus.

The Yale community members who park in the lots and garage will be given alternative assignments that day.

All University employees who commute to work, however, can help ease potential parking shortages on May 24 by making plans to carpool or use public transportation, says Joan Carroll, manager of the Parking & Transit Services Office.

"It would be a good day to leave your car at home, if at all possible," she says. "It's also a chance to discover some of the benefits of carpooling and/or riding the train or bus into work." For information about alternative commuting opportunities, call the Parking & Transit Services Office at 432-9790.

Service of remembrance

For most Yale students, Commencement is a time of proud celebration; for others, however, the joy of Commencement is tempered with the sorrow they feel over the loved ones who have died and are not on hand to share the special occasion.

This year, for the first time, Commencement weekend will include a special Service of Remembrance, where students and guests can honor those lost family members and friends.

The service, which is sponsored by the University Chaplain's Office, will take place at 4:30 p.m. on May 23 (following Class Day) in Battell Chapel, corner of Elm and College streets. All are welcome to attend.

"This service is designed for those who are gathering this weekend at Yale to celebrate a graduation, yet the circle of celebration is incomplete," explains the Reverend Cynthia Terry, associate university chaplain, who organized the event.

Music and readings from a variety of religious and non-religious traditions will highlight the service, which will also include "naming of names" and candle-lighting ceremonies, as well as time for silent reflection. "Our hope is that you will enter as fully as you are able, taking from each tradition whatever you can," says Terry.

Rain, et cetera

The most variable annual Commencement variable is, of course, the weather.

The downpour that drenched graduates and guests alike during last year's graduation ceremonies has prompted several schools and colleges that hold outdoor ceremonies to designate alternative rain sites.

For the location of those sites, as well as other Commencement information, click here.

-- By LuAnn Bishop

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Commencement, 1999 Style
Facility to enhance strength in environmental sciences
Guide again taps Yale as a 'must-see' attraction
'Under My (Green) Thumb': Rolling Stones sideman talks about life as a tree farmer
Summertime at Yale
Endowed Professorships
City-Wide Open Studios celebrates work of Yale and area artists
A Conversation About Welfare and the Media
Eleven honored for strengthening town-gown ties
Special award, Jovin Fund commemorate student's good works
From design to construction, program gives architecture students . . .
Graduate students cited for excellence in teaching
1999 Commencement Information
Beinecke exhibition celebrates the art of collecting books
New line of Yale ties and scarves combine architectural elements with heraldic shields
Studio classes again to highlight annual festival of arts and ideas
Project X Update
Leffell to speak about surgery for skin cancer
Kaplan honored for his work with children
Guide shows motorists where to park downtown