Undercurrents on an Outdoor Graduation
On Saturday morning, April 26, my alma mater, Sterling College, had its 2008 graduation on the lawn in front of Cooper Hall. Joel attended. Some of his friends were graduating, and he had a chance to see his former professors.
Several things were unusual about this commencement. Usually it is held in the football stadium, but that place is currently under renovation and could not be used. Also, commencement is usually on a day toward the middle of May, on the same day as any number of other college graduations. I don't know if this year's underwhelming commencement address (Joel's report) is typical or not.
The change of date has some merits. I think the typical three-week January inter-term has been moved to the end of the school year instead. This allows students who need summer jobs more than they need inter-term credits to get a chance at jobs before the flood of graduates elsewhere is unleashed on the same finite set of openings. Presumably, the typical student revelings on southern beaches during the long winter break is minimized too with this arrangement, if the spring semester begins in January.
The architecture of Cooper Hall is outstanding. Built of native limestone, and over 100 years old, it is on the National Register of Historic Buildings. Several years ago it was completely restored, with the mortar being re-tucked, insulation added, windows replaced, the interior remodeled, the foundation shored up, and the area re-landscaped. This backdrop for commencement has much more character than the unfeatured expanse of a football field. For me, the building holds lots of memories. It was headquarters for the education department in my student days. The classes in my major were routinely held in that building--most of them on the third floor, accessible only by multiple flights of stairs.
Grant works for Terry, a man who worked on the Sterling grounds crew when I was a student. Terry now has a contract with the college for installing and maintaining the landscape, with the exclusion of the main grassy areas. Therein lies a major sticking point with Grant--not between him and Terry, but between both of them and the chief financial officer (CFO) of the college. During past summers Grant has spent many hours with a string trimmer, sprucing up the areas the mower does not reach. This year, however, the CFO has put a stop to "paying $30.00 an hour for string trimming." The result is that no one does it. The fescue around Killbourn Hall is a foot tall and going to seed. It makes the well-maintained border beds next to these areas look tacky, and Grant is bitter about it. Rather than being able to look at his work with a sense of satisfaction, he feels slight revulsion at every turn because of how the "look" is compromised, no matter how carefully he tends to the part he's allowed to do.
A soaking rain had fallen just before graduation day, and folding chairs set up on the Cooper Hall lawn could not have been a very stable arrangement for the people using the chairs. "Did anyone's chair fall over?" Grant asked Joel hopefully when he returned from graduation.
"I don't think so. At least I didn't see it if it did," Joel answered.
"Shoot. I hoped someone would tip over and fall into Paul Bingle's* lap or something."
I told you Grant was bitter.
*CFO
Several things were unusual about this commencement. Usually it is held in the football stadium, but that place is currently under renovation and could not be used. Also, commencement is usually on a day toward the middle of May, on the same day as any number of other college graduations. I don't know if this year's underwhelming commencement address (Joel's report) is typical or not.
The change of date has some merits. I think the typical three-week January inter-term has been moved to the end of the school year instead. This allows students who need summer jobs more than they need inter-term credits to get a chance at jobs before the flood of graduates elsewhere is unleashed on the same finite set of openings. Presumably, the typical student revelings on southern beaches during the long winter break is minimized too with this arrangement, if the spring semester begins in January.
The architecture of Cooper Hall is outstanding. Built of native limestone, and over 100 years old, it is on the National Register of Historic Buildings. Several years ago it was completely restored, with the mortar being re-tucked, insulation added, windows replaced, the interior remodeled, the foundation shored up, and the area re-landscaped. This backdrop for commencement has much more character than the unfeatured expanse of a football field. For me, the building holds lots of memories. It was headquarters for the education department in my student days. The classes in my major were routinely held in that building--most of them on the third floor, accessible only by multiple flights of stairs.
Grant works for Terry, a man who worked on the Sterling grounds crew when I was a student. Terry now has a contract with the college for installing and maintaining the landscape, with the exclusion of the main grassy areas. Therein lies a major sticking point with Grant--not between him and Terry, but between both of them and the chief financial officer (CFO) of the college. During past summers Grant has spent many hours with a string trimmer, sprucing up the areas the mower does not reach. This year, however, the CFO has put a stop to "paying $30.00 an hour for string trimming." The result is that no one does it. The fescue around Killbourn Hall is a foot tall and going to seed. It makes the well-maintained border beds next to these areas look tacky, and Grant is bitter about it. Rather than being able to look at his work with a sense of satisfaction, he feels slight revulsion at every turn because of how the "look" is compromised, no matter how carefully he tends to the part he's allowed to do.
A soaking rain had fallen just before graduation day, and folding chairs set up on the Cooper Hall lawn could not have been a very stable arrangement for the people using the chairs. "Did anyone's chair fall over?" Grant asked Joel hopefully when he returned from graduation.
"I don't think so. At least I didn't see it if it did," Joel answered.
"Shoot. I hoped someone would tip over and fall into Paul Bingle's* lap or something."
I told you Grant was bitter.
*CFO
posted by Mrs. I at
4:56 AM
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