There’s no place like home – unless it’s raining.

The Rev. Kevin Wildes, S.J., university president, and Student Government Association leaders will discuss a possible relocation of graduation ceremonies or a way to improve the on-campus rain sites. No date for the discussion had been set as of press time.

While Marquette Hall has been the backdrop for several years, rain and bad weather has forced the ceremony inside at times.

The current rain plan moves the graduation ceremony to the Rec Plex, but because of space limitations, some family and friends would be forced tocan only watch the ceremony via video feeds sent to Roussel and Nunemaker Hhalls.

That’s the problem, according to Daniel Green, SGA president and political science senior.

Only two guests of each graduate are able to watch from the Rec Plex, while other family members watch from one of the two video feeds. Green says the quality of the feeds is also a concern.

“Maybe instead of finding another site, we could find a way to improve the video feed,” Green said.

The problem of space in the Rex Plex is nothing new. When graduation was moved to the Loyola campus in 2000 from its usual location at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, one student started a petition to keep the ceremony off- campus.

In an issue of The Maroon from Sept. 24, 1999, Amber Heller, then then a history senior, said the change was unexpected, traffic noise from St. Charles Avenue would be interruptive, and the capacity of the Rec Plex would be inadequate.

“If it rains, only 2,000 people can fit in the Rec Plex,” she told The Maroon.

While there is the possibility of a change in venue this year, Green said it’s nothing for seniors to worry about.

“I don’t want to get people upset about it,” he said, adding that SGA will discuss with graduating seniors the various options laid out on the table when students and administrators meet, and factor that into the final decision.

Wildes said nothing is set in stone at the moment.

“I really don’t have anything yet on commencement,” Wildes told The Maroon. “We need to look at options and think about a process.”

“Father Wildes doesn’t have a preference for where we hold graduation,” Green said. “His biggest concern is to find out the best solution to the rain problem.”

A possible off-campus site Green said he recommended was the New Orleans Arena. “The problem with that as a rain site is we have to let them know 48 hours in advance if we wanted the facility,” Green said. But if the weather holds and the Hhorseshoe is used for the ceremony, Loyola would win with the location and lose with the money. “We’d wind up paying for that place (the arena) whether we used it or not.”

As a graduating senior, Green said he would prefer to walk across a stage that fronts St. Charles Avenue. “I love it,” he said, referring to the set up that has been the backdrop for Loyola’s graduations for seven years.

As recently as two years ago, administrators were discussing a possible move to the Superdome due tobecause of the rain site situation, but budget constraints kept graduation on campus.

Daniel Monteverde can be reached at [email protected].