Myrtle green gowns, unrecognizable bodies pack outside the UIC Pavilion under the afternoon sun. The sea of myrtle green begins to move inside the building and parents begin to take their seat in the red, plastic chairs.

Students expect long minutes of speeches as their culmination to four years of high school, but this year the most time-consuming part of ceremony will be the reading of the names of all 800+ students in the graduating class.

The Class of 2017 will be celebrating their graduation on June 13 at 7 p.m. at the UIC Pavilion. This year, changes involving the schedule of the ceremony will be implemented. This will be the trial year that will determine the permanence of such changes, according to Principal Tennison.

In a senior meeting at the beginning of the year, Tennison proposed the idea of having seniors’ names be read out loud during the graduation ceremony. This idea, which originated from parent and student input, was applauded and supported by many, yet became a source of concern to others.

According to Assistant Principal Ms. Hanly, the idea emerged from the request of parents.

“My understanding is that the parents had come forward with this,” Hanly said. “I mean we had heard it being requested over the years, but we always kind of avoided it because of the length of the ceremony.”

Parents were not the only ones interested in having this idea put into effect; seniors demonstrated desire and support towards this idea as well.

“It was parents that initiated it,” Tennison said. “Then I would receive anecdotal students in the hallway. It was kind of the general climate when I would run in into parents or seniors.”

In order to assure the senior class’s opinion was taken into account, a survey was sent out.  

“We took a survey [where] we asked the senior class,” Hanly said. “It wasn’t overwhelming, but the majority were pro with this idea.”

Because the duration of graduation will be lengthened, new actions will be taken to ensure the success of this new idea, along with the satisfaction of all attendees during graduation.

“The way we are setting it up is that we are going to have two podiums on the stage, so kids will come up on either side,” Hanly said. She said that names will be read out by two administration faculty only, making the ceremony faster.       

Not only will the physical setup be different, but the agenda will also be altered.

“Because this is the first year that we are reading names, my remarks are going to be very short,” Tennison said. “The focus would be on the names of the students, that’s what everyone is there for. We have a couple of remarks by the students and me, making it less than 10 minutes of speaking.”

Time is a big concern for both teachers and students. Unlike past years, there will be no guest speaker, and the class gift will not be presented.

“We anticipate it’ll be longer — you know the goal is under two hours,” Tennison said. “We figure most people would accept an hour 45 minutes without much problem, so if we can get the hour 50, I don’t think anybody will notice the difference there.”

Mr. Golden, Advanced Algebra with Trig teacher, is concerned about the time issue.

“That is 120 minutes — that is eight names a minute,” Golden said. “That’s a name in less than 10 seconds. [10 seconds] not only for the name reading, but then they walk up there and have to shake hands — it’s going to take more than two hours.”

Golden said he appreciates the initiative of the idea.

“I do think it’s a good idea in theory. I just think that once it’s implemented it’s not going to work,” Golden said.

Students like Reuben Park, Div. 772, share Golden’s concern.

“I think it’s a terrible idea,” Park said. “It is just too long of a process, without much significance.”

Park also raised the issue mispronunciation of names could have for the overall ceremony.  

“Personally my name, Reuben Park, is not that hard to pronounce, but I’ve met other people with difficult names,” Park said. “Hearing that will be interesting.”

Although administration is aware of these potential issues, they are ready to accept the challenge.

“I think everybody has to honor the process,” Tennison said. “Everyone is going to do the best that they can and everybody listens as kindly as they can. If everyone does the best that they can do, you know that’s what we are shooting for.”

The risk of mispronunciation will be reduced through the help of phonetic spelling cards.

“We will have everybody hand a card at [graduation] practice with their name and preferably a phonetic spelling underneath it,” Hanly said. “So that helps a lot, and you will bring up that card to the stage and we’ll read it.”

Administration runs into more risk during the reading of the graduate names. Cheering from the audience is the one factor that Lane administration will have to work with.

“It just takes one person and the whole Pavilion will hear it. When one person does it then everybody thinks it’ll be OK,” Golden said.

Hanly said that the audience will be advised to wait until the end to cheer for the graduating class, but admitted it as a factor that cannot be controlled.

Golden also proposed the idea of having division teachers read out their students names.

“I think it would be better if they allowed division teachers to read their divisions students’ names. It’ll go quicker because I know their names,” Golden said.

Administration along with teachers want to ensure a pleasant graduation for both the graduates and attendees. Such changes will allow for administration to adjust and shape future graduations, improving the event, according to Hanly.

Editor’s Note: The original print headline of the story which appeared before graduation was “Parent initiative lengthens graduation.” This was changed to reflect the graduation event which did not go overtime.