Deja Vu for the Class of 2024
07/05/24 06:03
May 7, 2024 (Vol. 18 No. 22) - You have to feel some sorrow for the college class of 2024. This is the time of year that students at colleges and universities across the land take that final ceremonial walk that signifies the end of childhood and the start of adulthood. It is a rite of passage one remembers for the rest of one's life. However, this year, many schools have been forced to cancel their graduation ceremonies because of the ongoing campus protests and counterprotests over Israel's military actions in Gaza. Unfortunately, the class of 2024 has been here before. Four years ago, it was the high school class of 2020 - the COVID class. Most of that year's graduation ceremonies were either cancelled or dramatically altered by the pandemic. To those students - victims of circumstances beyond their control - I send my heartfelt sympathies and congratulations. Here, in Lawrence, Kansas, there have been a few, small protests at the University of Kansas - not enough to alter graduation plans. However, these graduating Jayhawks have another obstacle that will affect their graduation. The football stadium where the ceremonies are traditionally held is under "renovation." (I put "renovation" in quotation marks because the university is, in reality, building a new stadium.) The ceremonies will be held in what's left of Memorial Stadium - which means the KU class of 2024 will graduate in a construction site. That will make for less-than-great pictures. As you can see from the picture above, there is only one section of the grandstand remaining. That means each graduate is forced to limit the number of family/friends who come to see their big day to just six people. In fairness to KU, administrators have no other choice. Allen Field House, which has in the past been a bad-weather back-up site for graduation is, itself, in the midst of a major renovation. However, to its credit, the class of 2024 is a savvy lot. It has had a lot of stuff thrown its way the past few years and managed to not only survive, but thrive. Congratulations, graduates! May you enjoy success as you venture forth into this wacky, unpredictable world. That's it for now. Fear the Turtle. Photo courtesy KCTV-5.