I wanted to take this opportunity to talk directly to the student body about the decision to move graduation off campus. Clearly, it is an issue many students feel passionate about, and so I would like to explain the process that the Student Government Association was involved in with Father Wildes.

In July of 2006 Father Wildes approached SGA leadership to enter into a conversation about graduation. For the past seven months we have been giving Father Wildes different suggestions about how to handle graduation so that we could keep the Horseshoe as the primary location.

Each time we gave him a suggestion, he it took back to the special events staff, who would then investigate the feasibility of the option. The staff looked at many different options, some of which came from students through e-mail, Facebook and individual meetings. The research on the ideas such as non-Arena alternative venues and a large tent to cover the Horseshoe showed that none of them was feasible.

After several months of research, Father Wildes decided that a decision had to be made so that we would have a concrete plan for graduation. However, he gave us some time to make one final recommendation. We proposed the use of the New Orleans Arena as the rain site and the Horseshoe as the permanent location. The university on the Monday before graduation would use Impact Weather, a service the university uses to track hurricanes, to look at the weather patterns for the weekend and make a decision about where graduation would be held. Again, Father Wildes instructed the special events staff to look into this option. In November, the Arena said they could not meet our needs in this way, but Father Wildes asked the staff to continue negotiating to see if a deal could be brokered.

The Arena, however, would not move on the issue and required that if we were to reserve the Arena we would have to pay the full cost of rental. This was not a feasible option, since the full cost to rent the facility is $35,000. We would also incur the cost for holding the graduation on campus. Both Father Wildes and I were hoping that the Arena would allow us to put down a deposit and pay in full when we had to use the facility, but this was not the case.

While I am not happy to be graduating in the Arena I do understand the logic behind Father Wildes’ decision. Because of his willingness to accept input, I choose to support him. Father Wildes has also committed to provide funding for all Senior Week activities so that we can increase the quality of the programs and make the campus an integral part of the plans.

I am sorry that everyone was not able to be pleased with this decision. SGA has worked hard to have graduation on campus, because that was what the majority of feedback from students told us they wanted. Father Wildes worked closely with student leaders, both SGA and non-SGA, to try to find a solution that satisfied all parties. Unfortunately, no one could find a solution that both kept graduation on campus and allowed for a feasible rainsite. I hope that the Class of 2007 can bounce back from this setback and still enjoy their commencement ceremonies.

Senior Week and commencement will still be a joyous time, and I hope we can rally to make the experience great for the whole class.

Daniel Green is SGA president and a political science junior from New Orleans.