To the Editors:

I’ve been hearing rumors all semester, but on Wednesday morning, my fears were realized: Loyola’s graduating seniors will not be graduating in the Superdome this May. Instead, we’ll be receiving our diploma in what may be the single-most haunting symbol of New Orleans’ darkest days, the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

“Cissy” Petty, vice president and associate provost, confirmed this news for me in an e-mail: “Yes, Spring 2011 commencement is at the Convention Center because the Superdome will be undergoing renovation and not able to handle commencement,” Petty wrote.

I know that the location of graduation pales in comparison to the importance of graduation itself. I’m even over the fact that commencement won’t be held in the Superdome.

But the Convention Center? Really? I’m a native New Orleanian, but I wasn’t living here at the time of Hurricane Katrina. So I know that even for those not living in the city, the Convention Center was and is one of the most prominent images associated with the worst, lowest days following Hurricane Katrina. Hundreds, if not thousands, of abandoned New Orleanians were left to die of hunger, thirst, and heat stroke like a pack of wild animals for whom no one bothered to care.

Is this the image that best represents our senior class?

Melanie Ziems mass communication senior [email protected]