{"id":116,"date":"2023-09-11T15:44:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-11T19:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.golive.clarku.edu\/president\/2023\/09\/11\/new-venue-for-clarks-120th-commencement\/"},"modified":"2025-03-31T10:45:36","modified_gmt":"2025-03-31T14:45:36","slug":"new-venue-for-clarks-120th-commencement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president\/2023\/09\/11\/new-venue-for-clarks-120th-commencement\/","title":{"rendered":"New Venue for Clark\u2019s 120th Commencement"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-09-11T15:44:00-04:00\">September 11, 2023<\/time><\/div>\n\n<p>Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,<\/p>\n<p>We are very pleased to announce an important change in the location of Clark\u2019s Commencement exercises that will enhance the experience for our graduates and their guests.<\/p>\n<p>Beginning with Clark\u2019s 120th Commencement ceremony on Monday, May 20, 2024, we will now be holding our exercises in the DCU Center in downtown Worcester. We still anticipate holding other Commencement-related festivities on our campus.<\/p>\n<p>Why are we making the move to a new venue?<\/p>\n<p>It has become increasingly challenging to sustain our traditional practice of hosting Commencement on our campus green. Simply, the campus is neither large enough nor equipped to adequately handle the influx of as many as 6,000 attendees and provide the parking, seating, and bathroom facilities needed to accommodate them. We are especially concerned about ensuring that our ceremony is accessible for all who would like to attend.<\/p>\n<p>In considering how we might proceed with future Commencement ceremonies, we sought the input of stakeholders throughout the Clark community \u2014 students, faculty, staff, trustees, and a number of alumni, whose valuable insights greatly informed and lent support to our decision.<\/p>\n<p>The benefits of holding Commencement at the DCU Center are substantial and include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>With the DCU\u2019s seating capacity of 10,000 for Commencement, there will no longer be any restriction on the number of people who can attend the ceremony. In the past, due to space considerations, we have had to limit the number of guest tickets allotted to each graduate student, which meant extended family members and friends often were unable to attend.<\/li>\n<li>The DCU Center is climate-controlled, and holding the ceremonies indoors will eliminate the annual risk of inclement weather and occasional severe weather events. It is also ADA-compliant and fully accessible.<\/li>\n<li>There is ample parking in lots and garages around the DCU Center, including a garage directly across the street.<\/li>\n<li>All guests will have an unobstructed view of the ceremony and can watch their graduate walk across the stage on a giant screen.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Our first ceremony inside the DCU Center will be held on <strong>Monday, May 20, 2024, at 10 a.m.<\/strong> In the future, we hope to again make it a weekend event, depending on scheduling availability.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to this change in venue and change in date, we also will be moving to a single ceremony combining the awarding of honorary, graduate, and undergraduate degrees, which previously were spread across three ceremonies. More information about Commencement logistics will be shared in the coming months. Anyone with immediate questions can send them to\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:commencement@clarku.edu\">commencement@clarku.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>We appreciate how important \u201cplace\u201d is to celebrations and traditions, and recognize that our campus green holds a special symbolic importance for many of our graduates, faculty, and staff. The Clark campus will continue to host events that honor the many accomplishments of our graduates, even as the needs for responsibly executing a large-attendance event demand that we make this change. We are confident we can carry with us to the DCU the spirit of joy and celebration and symbolism \u2014 including the international flags! \u2014 and in doing so, establish a new, enduring tradition.<\/p>\n<p>Sincerely,<\/p>\n<p>David Fithian \u201987<br \/>\nPresident<\/p>\n<p>Sebasti\u00e1n Royo<br \/>\nProvost<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff, We are very pleased to announce an important change in the location of Clark\u2019s Commencement exercises that will enhance the experience for our graduates and their guests. Beginning with Clark\u2019s 120th Commencement ceremony on Monday, May 20, 2024, we will now be holding our exercises in the DCU Center in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-presidential-communication"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>New Venue for Clark\u2019s 120th Commencement | Office of the President | Clark University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president\/2023\/09\/11\/new-venue-for-clarks-120th-commencement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Venue for Clark\u2019s 120th Commencement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff, We are very pleased to announce an important change in the location of Clark\u2019s Commencement exercises that will enhance the experience for our graduates and their guests. Beginning with Clark\u2019s 120th Commencement ceremony on Monday, May 20, 2024, we will now be holding our exercises in the DCU Center in [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president\/2023\/09\/11\/new-venue-for-clarks-120th-commencement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Office of the President\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-11T19:44:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-31T14:45:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Pennypacker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/president\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/11\\\/new-venue-for-clarks-120th-commencement\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/president\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/11\\\/new-venue-for-clarks-120th-commencement\\\/\"},\"headline\":\"New Venue for Clark\u2019s 120th Commencement\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-11T19:44:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-31T14:45:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/president\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/11\\\/new-venue-for-clarks-120th-commencement\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":527,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"Presidential Communication\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/president\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/11\\\/new-venue-for-clarks-120th-commencement\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/president\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/11\\\/new-venue-for-clarks-120th-commencement\\\/\",\"name\":\"New Venue for Clark\u2019s 120th Commencement | Office of the President | Clark University\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/president\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-11T19:44:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-31T14:45:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/president\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/884237452632ee846930bad1d6a6d61d\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/president\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/11\\\/new-venue-for-clarks-120th-commencement\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/president\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\\\/posts\\\/116#breadcrumbs\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":0,\"name\":\"ClarkU\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Office of the President\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/president\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/president\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/president\\\/\",\"name\":\"Office of the President\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/president\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"New Venue for Clark\u2019s 120th Commencement | Office of the President | Clark University","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president\/2023\/09\/11\/new-venue-for-clarks-120th-commencement\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"New Venue for Clark\u2019s 120th Commencement","og_description":"Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff, We are very pleased to announce an important change in the location of Clark\u2019s Commencement exercises that will enhance the experience for our graduates and their guests. Beginning with Clark\u2019s 120th Commencement ceremony on Monday, May 20, 2024, we will now be holding our exercises in the DCU Center in [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president\/2023\/09\/11\/new-venue-for-clarks-120th-commencement\/","og_site_name":"Office of the President","article_published_time":"2023-09-11T19:44:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-03-31T14:45:36+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"John Pennypacker","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president\/2023\/09\/11\/new-venue-for-clarks-120th-commencement\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president\/2023\/09\/11\/new-venue-for-clarks-120th-commencement\/"},"headline":"New Venue for Clark\u2019s 120th Commencement","datePublished":"2023-09-11T19:44:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-31T14:45:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president\/2023\/09\/11\/new-venue-for-clarks-120th-commencement\/"},"wordCount":527,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["Presidential Communication"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president\/2023\/09\/11\/new-venue-for-clarks-120th-commencement\/","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president\/2023\/09\/11\/new-venue-for-clarks-120th-commencement\/","name":"New Venue for Clark\u2019s 120th Commencement | Office of the President | Clark University","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-09-11T19:44:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-31T14:45:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president\/#\/schema\/person\/884237452632ee846930bad1d6a6d61d"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president\/2023\/09\/11\/new-venue-for-clarks-120th-commencement\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116#breadcrumbs","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":0,"name":"ClarkU","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Office of the President","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president\/","name":"Office of the President","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"fimg_url":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":345,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116\/revisions\/345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}