The University issued a statement to Spectator on the subject of GS Class Day. It says that the inconvenience to GS students and their families is "regrettable," but that moving the date for Class Day was "the only acceptable alternative."
We sent some questions to University spokesperson Robert Hornsby, who replied with this statement. Read the full story by Madina Toure at the news desk.
We are proud that President Obama will return to our campus for Barnard’s graduation, but the resulting consequences for other class day ceremonies scheduled for that day have spawned some misinformation which we want to dispel. From the moment we learned of President Obama’s decision speak at Barnard, our goal has been to accommodate this historic visit without undue inconvenience to thousands of our graduates and their families attending other Commencement week events. The University aggressively and thoroughly explored numerous scheduling and logistical options for achieving this objective with Barnard, General Studies and Engineering—the three schools with ceremonies that had all been scheduled on the same South Lawn location, one after another, on the same day. As Dean Awn has clearly stated, the option of moving the General Studies Class Day ceremony to a different campus site Monday morning while the main core of campus was rendered largely inaccessible would likely have been deeply problematic for graduates and their families.
Keep reading the full statement after the jump.
