Cal Lutheranโs 2022 graduation ceremony is underwhelming
Photo by Madison Kosar-Reporter
The parking lot of the Ventura County Fairgrounds and signage to direct traffic is the majority of the space, making it look barren and empty.
March 1, 2022
For the 2022 commencement ceremony, California Lutheran University will be repeating last year’s car style graduation at the Ventura County Fairgrounds for both undergraduate and graduate students. As a graduating senior, I find it disappointing that I will not be able to spend my final moments graduating from the William Rolland Stadium at Cal Lutheran.
On May 14, graduating students will have the opportunity to watch the ceremony from their car. Students are allowed to bring one car load of people and listen in through their car radio. When itโs time to walk across the stage, students can leave their car and receive their diploma on stage with their masks on.
After spending years at a university and paying thousands of dollars, students want to end their college experience where they started, on campus surrounded by the people and places that shaped the last few years of their lives. The Ventura County Fairgrounds is about a 30 minute drive from Cal Lutheranโs Thousand Oaks campus, not ideal for on campus students since they would have to find transportation to the Fairgrounds.
President Varlotta shared an email last January with the 2022 graduates where she gave information about the upcoming ceremony.
โWe are building this yearโs plans on last yearโs success since graduates shared with us how much they enjoyed the May 2021 program at the Ventura County FairGrounds,โ Varlotta said in an email.
Although she claims that last year was a success, alumna Sadaf Mohammadi disagrees.
โTo be honest it wasnโt anything special, I feel like itโs so much different than graduating at your actual school. The best part for me was that after it was done, you could go to the beach,โ Mohammadi said.
Ventura is a beautiful beach community north of Thousand Oaks, offering a nice location for photos after the graduation itself. However, the fair grounds are barren and not ideal for photos.
Alumni Noah Salas attended last year’s graduation ceremony and found it hard to see any of the event.
โThe venue itself wasnโt very nice either, they still had posters and signs up for the concerts that were happening later in the day and it took away from the whole graduation feel,โ Salas said.
Cal Lutheran isnโt the only university doing car style graduation. Schools across the country are choosing between in person and drive through ceremonies.
In an article published by the Los Angeles Times, they focus on what the experience of drive-through graduations have been like in Los Angeles County. The participants describe the event as a unique experience and it being better than nothing.
With the pandemic, it is hard to get a normal style ceremony but there are other options that are better than nothing.
Private universities offer their students a lot of benefits like having a close knit community and small class sizes. All of these benefits come at the high cost of our tuition. Our graduation calls for this money to be placed in creating a nice ceremony that doesn’t involve people parking their car in a parking lot to watch a graduation.
Finishing my college experience at the Ventura County Fairgrounds feels wrong and anti-climatic.
I grew up going to the Ventura County Fair and going to concerts at the Fairgrounds but having such an important life event there doesnโt feel appropriate. Although I am more than happy to follow COVID-19 restrictions, I believe graduation could have been done better on campus like previous years.
Students and faculty are required to be vaccinated and wear a mask when they are on campus, why not extend those restrictions to the graduation ceremony and keep it on campus? Although it may be logistically easier to have the Ventura County Fairgrounds staff set up the event, it makes Cal Lutheran seem lazy and unwilling to put in the extra effort to celebrate their graduating class.
Although I will be attending the event safely with my car load of people, it feels like there is a better option for the event considering we are all already on campus attending in-person courses. I would be more than happy to show proof of my vaccinations and wear a mask outside for the whole duration of the graduation ceremony if that’s what it took to graduate at Cal Lutheran. The school could also use the daily health check for all people who attend the ceremony as a way to track possible exposure.
At the end of a studentโs college experience, the graduation ceremony is a huge milestone and I believe that Cal Lutheran could have done a better job at celebrating their graduating seniors.
Rob Reynolds • Mar 12, 2022 at 9:42 am
I was honestly excited for the ventura county fair grounds. I didn’t realize that there was this much strife about it. I heard from other people last year that they had a wonderful time. Idk. The petition worked though, right?
Christer Maxine Schmidt • Mar 11, 2022 at 6:50 pm
I find it rather insulting that you refer to Cal Lutheran staff members as lazy. As a graduating senior of the class of 2021 and a former Echo contributor, I really enjoyed the graduation at the stadium and frankly felt it was far more enjoyable than a hot stadium event where you’re stuck in your seat for hours. The staff members at Cal Lutheran don’t deserve to be bombarded with accusations of laziness, and the fact that the petition to change it back to the stadium passed is a shame.
Christer Maxine Schmidt • Mar 11, 2022 at 6:51 pm
*fairgrounds not stadium in the first instance
Lauren DeRosa • Mar 11, 2022 at 3:13 pm
While we are seeing a decline in the COVID-19 cases both on campus and in the county, it needs to be said that Cal Lutheran is a growing university, with its largest graduating class nearing 750 students. This means that as the years go on and the trend continues to increase, the capacity for family in attendance for graduation will decrease, as the stadium does not have the ability to seat full families. The traditional “nuclear families” of 4-6 people per household is long gone, and students should not have to pick and choose who can be there to witness this momentous moment for many students. There is already over-flow seating in the parking lot at the William-Roland stadium (which isn’t an upgrade from the parking lot in Ventura), and especially with considerations for social distancing, the fairgrounds makes the most sense.
As for how the school continues to tread lightly with COVID regulations, I have to say that it seems incredibly ignorant to assume that everyone is capable of returning to a “normal” lifestyle. Many students have under-lying health conditions and will continue to live with the fear of COVID having permanent, long-term damage, not to mention the countless family members that may have them as well. It would be a major risk to the CLU community to pack families into a football stadium and overflow seating when people are still suffering from COVID.
I am glad that it won’t be hosted in cars anymore, which should make it feel more like a traditional graduation, but our success is not the piece of paper we receive on that stage, it is the experience we gained after four years and the careers we will go into that will support us for the rest of our lives.
Nico Zacharatos • Mar 4, 2022 at 6:03 pm
Itโs absolutely devastating. To hear that not only this year was this venue booked, but for the next few years as well, when weโre already coming to an endemic now?! Itโs ridiculous. Iโm part of the class of 2020 myself, so I barley got a graduation for high school, thinking years later itโd be exactly back to normal and even more meaningful for my class when itโs our time to graduate as well. I feel so sad for this yearโs graduating class if theyโre deprived of a normal graduation, and I so hope all the students outrage can make a change.
DeAnn Justesen • Mar 1, 2022 at 1:10 pm
I agree entirely. It is disappointing that we can not graduate at Cal Lutheran.
Riley Mitchell • Mar 1, 2022 at 9:57 am
I completely agree. It also looks bad that the school is inconsistent with what they consider Covid safe. We held many home football games last semester with no masks required. We also held many events such as the Presidents own Inauguration that was in an expensive enclosed tent. There has been too many events this school year for the school to now say we can’t have a better form of a graduation. It is lazy and their email saying “People liked it last year so were doing it this year” is not only untrue but also condescending to its students that have worked very hard through many obstacles to get rewarded with this sloppy drive-thru “Graduation.” There is a petition to President Varlotta to have the graduation in the stadium that started yesterday and it already has over 600 signatures. Cal Lutheran needs to listen to its students.
Gab • Mar 1, 2022 at 10:28 pm
To be quite honest I’m saddened to know after all the hard work we are graduating the way we are off-campus. I was disappointed because a lot of us have worked hard and we deserve graduation on our campus. It’s a gorgeous campus and a part of me feels cheated. The school should have made a better effort, especially when being held outside there is more flexibility. I understand the policy behind COVID but as we all know it has been lifted. I had asked if we can write letters to the Board to possibly make a change but unfortunately, it’s not up to us. I think it should be especially for those who have paid the price to attend this beautiful campus.
Gab • Mar 10, 2022 at 9:46 am
To all my Seniors of 2022
There is an Independent petition circulating to all Undergraduates, and those students who want to celebrate at campus please sign. It would mean a lot to family and students to have commencement at our beautiful campus. Weโve worked so hard and as we continue to move in to some normalcy this is the upmost important thing for many! I would love to seat with my colleagues and share this hard work that has been accomplished. Please share with others.
https://www.foxla.com/news/graduation-debate-cal-lutheran-students-fighting-to-have-graduation-on-campus.amp
Petition:
https://secure.avaaz.org/community_petitions/en/our_president_lori_varlotta_clu_class_of_2022_petition_to_graduate_in_william_rolland_stadium/?fpla