Strange Graduation at Berkeley

There is a new season of "Stranger Things" about to be released. It seems as though the 2022 UC-Berkeley graduation would fit right in. Read on:

Chaos reigned at this year's UC Berkeley college graduation

Lisi Ludwig, May 21, 2022, SFGATE

Last weekend, around 7,500 students of University of California Berkeley’s Class of 2022 bid adieu to their alma mater in a chaotic ceremony that left many students frustrated and disappointed at administrators. From the start, organizers seemed overwhelmed by the sheer volume of students, struggling even to get them to their seats at the California Memorial Stadium. Thousands of graduates had to enter through just a few metal detectors, then join a dense crowd of people all trying to pass through a single packed tunnel to get onto the field. By the time everyone actually made it to their seats, the ceremony was already well underway. 

Soon after the speakers began, students abandoned their spots in droves, leaving row after row empty while they milled around and chatted with friends. School administrators made several attempts to corral them back to their seats, but were summarily ignored. Adding to the disappointment, muffled audio on the field left many unable to hear the ceremony’s speakers and performances. “It was just really difficult.” Anjika Pai, University Medalist and commencement speaker said, about people leaving during the speeches. “From what I’ve heard, it wasn’t because people were like ‘Well, I’m bored. I want to go’... people genuinely couldn’t hear it.” 

Friends who stayed told her they couldn’t hear everything, but did get the general ‘jist’ and ‘framework’ of her speech. Graduating senior David Chen told SFGATE that he lacked closure from the experience. “We really weren’t given any instruction on how to act, behave or what was going to go on,” he said. He left his seat in the overflow section while the ceremony was still going on. “Everyone was doing it,” he explained, in defense of his actions. Graduate Athalia Djuhana, whose grandparents had traveled from Indonesia, arrived early, excited for the celebration, but left before the turning of tassels due to uncomfortable heat and ongoing chaos. 

The ceremony drew one of the largest crowds in recent history, with an estimated 40,000 people packing the stands to witness the first spring graduation held in-person since the pandemic began. Tickets to the event had sold out online nearly a month prior. In the days and weeks leading up to graduation, students peddled spare tickets online for double, triple and even quadruple the original $10 entry price. 

...In response to questions about the 2022 graduation, Elizabeth Costello, campus spokesperson, told SFGATE that the school had been planning it for a full year. “Overall this was a very successful event — members of our community were excited to celebrate in person, and ultimately there were relatively few complaints,” Costello said. “This was one of the most successful commencement ceremonies that we’ve ever had."*

Full story at https://www.sfgate.com/local/amp/uc-berkeley-2022-graduation-17187746.php.

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*Would it be OK to ask what an unsuccessful graduation would look like?