Graduation going green
SLIPPERY ROCK — More than 1,200 diplomas will be awarded Saturday to Slippery Rock University graduates, clad in stylish gowns made from trash.
The garbage wasn't dug from campus trash cans, but rather comes in the form of "green" gowns made from recycled plastic bottles. The university has long promoted sustainability, and it was the feeling of administration that the gowns would be a way to show that.
It takes 23 plastic bottles to make one $28 gown, which amounts to 28,106 bottles saved from landfills, according to the university.
Commencement will begin at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. at Morrow Field House. University President Robert Smith will speak at both ceremonies. Graduates also will be greeted by Council of Trustees Chairman Robert Taylor, and will be inducted into the SRU alumni association by association President Bonnie Lukasik.
The morning ceremony will feature graduates of the College of Health, Environment and Science, SRU's largest class with 345 eligible to receive diplomas, and the College of Humanities, Fine and Performing Arts, the university's smallest with 84 eligible graduates. Graduate degrees also will be awarded, with 47 students receiving doctorates in physical therapy.
The 2 p.m. ceremony will recognize graduates of the College of Business, Information and Social Science and the College of Education. Earning honors will be more than 300 graduates.
Five ROTC graduates will be commissioned as military cadets at 4 p.m. in the Advance Technology and Science Hall auditorium by Lt. Col. Patrick Callahan.
SRU commencement director Linda Quidone has seen class sizes swell in her 38-year career at the university. Although the 1,222-member graduating class has dropped this year from 1,357 in May 2009 and 1,361 in May 2008, bigger classes have been the norm for the past few decades, Quidone said.
Because of the class sizes and inclement weather, the university decided to hold two separate commencements at the field house. There will be a live screening at the Alumni House.
