UNC global studies commencement ceremony put on hold

UPDATE, March 18 at 10:55 a.m.: The global studies graduation ceremony is no longer cancelled. It will be held on May 11 at 3:30 p.m. in Memorial Hall, according to an email from College of Arts and Sciences spokeswoman Dee Reid.

Seniors in UNC’s global studies department were greeted with an announcement Monday that infuriated many of them.

Due to a shortage of funding and staff, the department’s May graduation ceremony, which was scheduled to be held in Memorial Hall was canceled, according to an email sent Monday by department chairman Andrew Reynolds.

“Please know how disappointed I am that we will be unable to celebrate you individually as you leave UNC, but I know that you and your loved ones will greatly enjoy the University’s Commencement and weekend festivities,” Reynolds wrote in the email to the department’s seniors.

Senior Dina Shehata said she was angry when she received the message and planned to email Chancellor Carol Folt as well as start a petition with others in her class.

“The reasoning behind it was just ridiculous,” she said. “I mean, I’m sure they have money.”

Shehata, a global studies and psychology major, said she immediately thought of how devastating it would be to not have a ceremony.

“I have another graduation ceremony because I’m a double major, but what about the other people?” she said.

In an interview, Reynolds said he was reassessing the situation and would know more about plans to hold an alternative ceremony by Tuesday. He added that the budget deficit?, coupled with the upcoming departure of Administrative Manager Caroline Poole, led to the cancellation.

“We wouldn’t have any staff in the curriculum to run the event, and we don’t have the funds to do it either,” Reynolds said.

He said he was in the process of finding a backup plan for the ceremony despite the roadblocks.

“I’m going to speak to people, and we’re trying to work out some ways to make this happen,” he said. “Because it’s a very important part of the year for us to celebrate our majors.”

College of Arts and Sciences spokeswoman Dee Reid said she does not know whether a possible alternative commencement would still be held in Memorial Hall, but there will likely be such a ceremony.

“The dean’s office has been in contact with the department, and they are working out an alternate plan,” she said.

Senior Taylor Bivin, who is from Florida, said she is frustrated because her family is flying in for the weekend.

“I emailed Chancellor Folt, the Board of Trustees, and President (Tom) Ross because this is ridiculous,” she said.

She also emailed Reynolds, who replied by explaining to her that the cost of holding the ceremony in Memorial Hall is about $2,500.

“I have spent five years making the case to the college that the curriculum is unable to operate with a single member of staff who has to do every administrative function for over 800 majors, 25 joint faculty and lecturers, and a beginning MA program,” Reynolds wrote to Bivin.

“Furthermore, the college is unwilling to employ our single staff person at a level commensurate with the job, so it is no surprise that we lose that person to much better paid positions in the same field.”

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