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Post by hchoops on Jun 6, 2017 8:15:34 GMT -5
i heard from a young alum that the graduation site for next and subsequent years will be at the DCU ?
is this fake news ?
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Post by CHC8485 on Jun 6, 2017 9:09:14 GMT -5
It better be fake news!
Was told last year, when HC16 graduated, that it was a two year thing due to construction of the LAC and the lack of an indoor alternative location (Hart gym was under construction) in the event of rain.
I accepted the explanation for last year and this, but if it continues to HC19's (my daughter who is not on the board under that name), they will have at least 1 and likely many, unhappy, even angry, alumni parents. Once the Hart Gym (or the new LAC field) is available, there will be no excuse for holding it at DCU.
And if lack of parking is cited, I say what have we done for 60+ years prior to last year. Parking can be found off campus if necessary and there is far more parking on campus now than 30+ years ago and that never hampered an on campus graduation.
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Post by rgs318 on Jun 6, 2017 9:22:33 GMT -5
8485,
I have to agree. The HC graduation is a day for the college community to celebrate AT THE COLLEGE if at all possible. My belief is that with the talent HC has, it can be done.
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Post by HC13 on Jun 6, 2017 10:28:47 GMT -5
Although I had several friends who had kids graduate and they loved it, plenty of seats (Weather was miserable) easy to get in and out, thought it was great
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Post by rgs318 on Jun 6, 2017 11:43:47 GMT -5
13,
Did their kids graduate at the DCU? You make it sound very convenient.
I have been at "remote" graduations in the past (at the Meadowlands with Fairleigh Dickinson for one). They were "nice" but not as memorable as they could have been if held on campus - and that campus can't hold a candle to HC.
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Jun 6, 2017 11:51:36 GMT -5
My younger daughter graduated from Tulane with the graduation held at the Superdome. The graduation was spectacular (it was in New Orleans, after all) but it would have been even better on campus, in my opinion.
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Post by zambonihomie13 on Jun 6, 2017 12:00:22 GMT -5
Had my own graduation in the old Hart Center, and also attended this year's graduation at DCU. DCU was a much better venue, although who knows how the updates to the Hart Center could improve the graduation experience. I do believe though, that if the weather is cooperating, the graduation should always be on the football field.
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Post by beaven302 on Jun 6, 2017 12:11:35 GMT -5
8485, I have to agree. The HC graduation is a day for the college community to celebrate AT THE COLLEGE if at all possible. My belief is that with the talent HC has, it can be done. Amen, I still remember my class's graduation held at Fitton Field in good weather. It was a fine event, and if memory serves, Gov. John Volpe was the speaker, but I can't recall anything that he said. In contrast, my son's law school graduation was held at the Madison Square Garden Theatre. The ambiance was zero and people sitting in the back almost needed binoculars to see the graduates and faculty on the stage. |
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Post by hchoops on Jun 6, 2017 12:32:00 GMT -5
8485, I have to agree. The HC graduation is a day for the college community to celebrate AT THE COLLEGE if at all possible. My belief is that with the talent HC has, it can be done. Amen, I still remember my class's graduation held at Fitton Field in good weather. It was a fine event, and if memory serves, Gov. John Volpe was the speaker, but I can't recall anything that he said. If it was 1967, let me sum up Volpe's profound message. If you're going to be a shoe shiner, be the best shoe shiner you can be, etc., etc |
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Jun 6, 2017 12:32:32 GMT -5
IMO, the only valid explanation for continuing at DCU is that the upper campus will continue to be disrupted by two major construction projects after Luth is done. Not only loss of parking, but a loss of roadway for the Replacement Field House, as the new is appreciably larger in size than the OFH..
But the NFH was designed and built as a public events facility seating over 6,000. How many attend a typical HC commencement these days (typical meaning POTUS (or a major luminary) is not the commencement speaker).
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Post by HC13 on Jun 6, 2017 12:44:35 GMT -5
13, Did their kids graduate at the DCU? You make it sound very convenient. I have been at "remote" graduations in the past (at the Meadowlands with Fairleigh Dickinson for one). They were "nice" but not as memorable as they could have been if held on campus - and that campus can't hold a candle to HC. Yes, their kids did graduate, and as someone who graduated some 42 yrs earlier to the day, on a blistering hot day when they were carting bodies out of the stands at Fitton, including one of my uncles, the feedback was plenty of seating for all of their families, controlled climate, very convenient to both campus & hotels. I believe that the Baccalaureate Mass was at the Hart. |
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Post by Tom on Jun 6, 2017 13:49:37 GMT -5
Had my own graduation in the old Hart Center, and also attended this year's graduation at DCU. DCU was a much better venue, although who knows how the updates to the Hart Center could improve the graduation experience. I do believe though, that if the weather is cooperating, the graduation should always be on the football field. I don't think Fitton with a Centrum backup is an option. Since HC owns Hart, it can be available as a weather back-up very easily. The reason the '17 and '16 graduations were at the Centrum is because HC can't just keep the building on hold and not pay for it. If HC wants graduation on the football field, the bad weather back-up has to be something on campus. If the Centrum is the desired indoor facility then it's do away withe the concept of an outdoor graduation. |
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Post by hc6774 on Jun 6, 2017 14:45:37 GMT -5
Demand for tix out strips all on campus indoor facilities.
In addition to the 1000 participating, DCU is set up to seat 6000. In this year's photos it appears that those seats were filled...
In more recent years Hart has been a logistic nightmare when graduation was moved in doors; access and parking will continue to be a problem until the upper campus is complete including, PAC, NFH & parking garage; at best Hart will seat 4000; the indoor football space has little room for seating in addition to the 1000 participating.
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Post by hchoops on Jun 6, 2017 14:52:30 GMT -5
Thus graduations are scheduled for the DCU for the near future ?
Is there a schedule for groundbreaking for the PAC ? I thought HC did not have the necessary preliminary funding.
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Post by CHC8485 on Jun 6, 2017 14:56:46 GMT -5
That is correct Tom.
I will say last year, the DCU was nice, but save for the big purple curtain behind the stage it was not Holy Cross. Generic venue; sterile feel; no ambiance.
And after the graduation ceremony was over it took us almost 30 minutes to get out of the DCU center as everyone was headed to the convention center to meet the grads. Then another 10 minutes to find my son in the convention center while the family waited outside on the sidewalk.
once we found him, it was impossible to mingle with him, friends, faculty members and other parents we came to know over 4 year and enjoy a final few moments with them on campus prior to packing up his room and heading home.
For 170 years they've been holding commencement on campus - even before there was a field house. What did they do when it rained in the first 100 years of the College's history?
For 40 years they limited tickets for rainy day graduation and it worked fine ... ~4 Hart Center tix per grad with overflow seating in the hockey rink, and elsewhere on campus. I've been to 2 graduations in the Hart Center. Worked well - and it was pouring when the 1983 graduation let out. I imagine the filed house was similar.
And if the excuse is that upper road next to the field house is closed, get permission to open the City View Street gate for a day. We own 90% of the street anyway.
Or the PAC construction will be cewing up another 150 parking spaces - rent some space at WalMart and Sam Club and run a shuttle.
I get it, having an indoor option is highly desirable, though not required, so the college rented the DCU Center to be sure they had that option. Fair enough.
But, once the indoor option on campus is available again, traffic flow and parking can be managed. The feeling of community, continuity, completing one journey where it started and commencing a new one that is provided by an on campus graduation cannot be replicated.
If alternatives are available to keep it on campus, don’t take that experience away from more grads than necessary.
I’ll be having an in depth discussion with my long time friend, Fr. Campbell, voicing my concern.
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Post by Tom on Jun 6, 2017 15:04:25 GMT -5
For 170 years they've been holding commencement on campus - even before there was a field house. What did they do when it rained in the first 100 years of the College's history? Got wetAnd if the excuse is that upper road next to the field house is closed, get permission to open the City View Street gate for a day. We own 90% of the street anyway. Not a big deal - It's been open after a handful of basketball games in the past few yearsIf alternatives are available to keep it on campus, don’t take that experience away from more grads than necessary. |
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Jun 6, 2017 17:39:25 GMT -5
Calculations for the New Field House use for special events. Allowing for 30 percent of the square footage to be used for circulation, the seated area would seat 6,370. There is an alternate calculation where the seating is 6,000. The main egress doors for special event are on the SE corner, with a capacity of nearly 4,400 people (this set of doors is over 50 feet wide).
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I think construction of the replacement field house will start before the PAC. The main construction impact would appear to be the loss of the road leading from Hogan to College St. that runs along the north side of the OFH. As I understand it, some of that road will be taken by the replacement field house with its larger footprint. Supposedly, the road that runs along the south side of the OFH would eventually become two way, but highly unlikely it could be two way during the construction period. (And once HC buys the four remaining parcels of private property on City View, ........)
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Post by HC92 on Jun 6, 2017 20:53:07 GMT -5
Graduations at the DCU had better not be a long-term plan. Ranks right up there with changing our mascot.
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Post by nhteamer on Jun 7, 2017 13:19:52 GMT -5
Fitton
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