MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia University is ready to welcome a new group of Mountaineers as alumni.
Convocations for December graduates will take place in two ceremonies Saturday. The preparations have been underway at the WVU Coliseum for the past few days, according to WVU Events Coordinator Lisa Martin.
“So we’ll start Monday with making sure the court’s covered, bringing in our staging area, and all that goes with that, audio visual, curtains, backdrops, chairs, all of that. So it takes a good week,” Martin said.
Approximately 2,800 Mountaineers will be receiving their diplomas from their respective programs.
The first ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. where the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, the John Chambers College of Business and Economics, and the Reed College of Media. The second, will include the rest of WVU’s 11 colleges including the College of Law, School of Medicine, nursing and dentistry. Martin said the graduating class allows for the commencement to take place the way it does.
“All of our ceremonies are in one location, Coliseum, during one day, unlike May which is spread over three days and over different venues,” she said.
The ceremony itself is expected to be not as out of the ordinary, but Martin wanted to alert incoming friends and family members clear bag policy which will be implemented for the first time ever for commencement. Much like other live and sporting events, WVU is imposing a clear bag policy where any clear one gallon bag, or any small clutch bags the size of a hand will be allowed into the Coliseum. This new policy is expected improve the overall ceremony experience significantly.
“And that’s just it provides a safe environment for our guest and to ease our entry into our event venues,” she said.
With the commencement ceremony being held at the Coliseum, both attendees of the ceremony and surrounding Morgantown residents should expect some kind of traffic in and around the area until the second event wraps up around 4 p.m. This includes anywhere around Route 19 on Monongahela Boulevard and on Patteson Drive.
Martin expects a great day.
“We look forward to welcoming them and all of their guests and family back to the campus one more time,” she said.