ASU's Commencement Circus

Clayton is graduating with his Masters degree this week. He's worked very hard over the past year, spending time studying and doing homework instead of spending time with his family. I'm so proud of him and his accomplishments. He has yet to get lower than an A- in a class. And all while working full time and holding a calling in the EQ presidency. So I should be excited, right!?

I'm not excited. In all honesty, I'm annoyed even though I shouldn't be. And it's all because of our president. I'm not talking politics here. I don't care about his policies or his party. I don't care that it's an honor to have a current president speak at the ceremony. I do care that his accepting an invitation to speak at commencement is turning ASU's ceremony into a full-fledged circus. Commencement was originally planned for tomorrow night. But that didn't fit the president's schedule so ASU moved it, creating chaos for those who had finals scheduled for this afternoon and evening, having to be moved to another time. Instead of being held in Wells Fargo Arena, it's having to be held in ASU's Sun Devil Stadium. Each of the 8,000 graduates was told they would be able to get tickets for up to 6 guests. Normally tickets aren't even needed. It's supposed to be somewhere around 100 degrees today. Attendees were given a time to show up so that all 71,000 people didn't arrive at the same time. Yes, that's right. 71,000 people. The largest ASU commencement in history prior to tonight was 12,000. It's expected to be the largest commencement ceremony in US history. How 8,000 graduates, their potential 48,000 guests and faculty and staff add up to 71,000 is beyond me. Seems like more tickets got out than the graduates were told would be given out.

Then there is the 90 minutes standing in the scorching heat and that's just to get through the Secret Service security checkpoints which will be similar to the airport security. And that's not including the up to four hours of waiting in the blazing heat in the open air stadium. 200+ police officers and who knows how many secret service agents. Purses no larger than 12 inches, no knive or sharp objects of any kind, no weapons among other things. Air space is being restricted. For a college graduation ceremony. There won't be a parking spot available within 20 miles of the campus. Traffic on the nearby freeways will be a mess.

At 4:45pm the "pre-commencement show" will begin with performances by mariachis, gospel choirs and even Alice Cooper. Who has ever heard of a pre-commencement concert? And then there are the fireworks that will take place after the ceremony. What is this the 4th of July? This should be a time for graduates and their family and friends to celebrate graduation, not the full-blown carnival it's turning into. For those graduates who didn't want to deal with the mess, commencement is supposed to be aired on the ASU TV station. The big stations will carry the president's address...not the whole ceremony, just his address.

So why am I annoyed you ask? Clayton's last class and final were supposed to be tonight. As of 10pm tonight he should have been done with his coursework and we should have been celebrating. But his class was pushed off until tomorrow night. Not that one night is a huge deal most of the time, it's a big deal when we've spent most of the last year Clayton-less. All because the president is coming. I know I'm being petty. It's a great opportunity to see the president of the United States. We aren't going. We don't want to deal with the mess. And darn it! Clayton should be home tomorrow night and he won't be. He'll be taking his last final. So we have to wait one more day to have him back. Darn president.