This spring’s upcoming undergraduate commencement ceremonies will return to campus as a result of renovation issues at their previous location, PNC Bank Arts Center, on May 14.
Morning ceremonies will begin at 10 a.m. with the Leon Hess Business School ceremony taking place at the OceanFirst Bank Center, the School of Social Work at Pollak Theatre, and the Marjorie K. Unterberg School of Nursing and Health Studies under a specialized thousand-person tent on Shadow Lawn.
Mary Anne Nagy, Vice President for Student Life and Leadership Engagement, detailed the issues surrounding PNC Bank Arts Center’s renovations in concerns to hosting upcoming commencement gatherings.
“I learned from the head of the PNC Bank Arts Center that they were going to undergo a major renovation to buildings that were necessary for us to do commencement,” Nagy said. “Restrooms, concessions, ticket areas, things like that.”
PNC Bank Arts Center soon determined the commencement could not be held until June, which Monmouth found unacceptable, Nagy claims.
Other locations such as the Prudential Center and Atlantic City Convention Center were once considered, but ultimately the decision was chosen to attempt a commencement on campus due to the logistics of student’s families preferring to drive as short a distance as possible.
