San Jose principal becomes U.S. citizen.
For seven decades, San Jose State graduates-to-be have packed into Spartan Stadium — now CEFCU Stadium — en masse in their caps and gowns, accessorized with beach balls and flip flops, for commencement exercises. But that tradition comes to an end this week, and it may be a good news-bad news deal for some Spartan grads.
The good: With a new plan for separate ceremonies by college, each of the university’s 10,000 graduates will get to cross a stage and have his or her name called. The less good: You might have to get that diploma at Avaya Stadium, one of two venues San Jose State is using for a series of ceremonies over three days starting Wednesday evening.
“I realize that contemplating changes to long-standing traditions is hard — especially when it involves important events that have followed a fairly fixed pattern for many years,” SJSU President Mary Papazian said in a November blog announcing the changes. “Yet the inherent importance of this moment in our student’s lives makes it imperative that we strive properly and equitably to honor every graduate, officially confer their degrees, and ensure that they receive appropriate personal recognition.”
She also pointed out that the stadium commencement had been drawing a smaller percentage of eligible grads — only 25 percent last May. Hold-
ing that ceremony on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend may be a big factor, but another has to be the department convocations and smaller “affinity group” ceremonies that have grown in popularity in recent years and were held separately from the big show.
And with plans brewing for construction at CEFCU Stadium as well as other athletic facilities at South Campus, it may have been difficult to have ceremonies at the stadium, which has hosted commencement since 1948.
Starting this year, each of the university’s seven colleges will have its own
ceremony. Education, Humanities and the Arts, and Science will graduate students at the Event Center on campus. Business, Engineering, Applied Sciences and the Arts, and Social Sciences will have their ceremonies at Avaya Stadium, which is a bit of trek from the downtown San Jose campus. Ceremonies will be live streamed at www.sjsu.edu/commencement, where there is also a schedule.
One side benefit of the new system is that the massive traffic jam that typically ensnares the area south of downtown around the stadium will be no more. In recent years, it’s been particularly bad as graduation audiences depart around the same time people begin arriving for the San
Jose Taco Festival of Innovation at nearby History Park.
BLUES FEST BENEFIT »
The 37th annual San Jose Fountain Blues & Brews Fest is coming up June 23 — with the Fabulous Thunderbirds, featuring Kim Wilson, headlining — and Poor House Bistro is supporting the effort with a two-day benefit this weekend.
The Gumbo Party will feature live music from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, with acts including the JC Smith Band, the Little Village Foundation Revue, Motor Dude Zydeco and Jinx Jones and the King Tones. Get ticket information at phbgumboparty.eventbrite.com and check out the lineup
for the Blues & Brews Fest at www.fountainblues.com.
PLAYFUL MILESTONE: LESLEE HAMILTON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE GUADALUPE RIVER PARK, SHARED SOME GOOD NEWS RECENTLY » The Rotary PlayGarden welcomed its 500,000th visitor just in time for its third anniversary this month. The playground, across the street from the Market Center on Coleman Avenue, was designed to be accessible for all kids, including those with disabilities or special needs. Its success has inspired other similar projects that are being built around the valley.