UF is not alone in their departure from the commencement speaker tradition. Yale, Cornell University, Oregon State University and the University of Chicago are among the colleges that have done away with the practice. Each graduate will cross the platform, shake the hands of Lombardi and the dean and have a photo taken. Multiply that process by about 2,500 graduates and it equals a fairly lengthy ceremony. Two to three hours from the end of the processional to the end of the ceremony, estimates Battenfield.
Some students agree a shorter ceremony with no speaker is for the best.
I think the ceremonies are too long anyway. All rights reserved. No portion of The Alligator Online may be reproduced without the written consent of an officer of Campus Communications, Inc.