Communication

To the Editor of the CRIMSON:

From the recent announcement of the events of Class Day Week it seems that the Commencement Exercises of June 22, 1922 have been set for Sanders Theatre. As a rule few undergraduates have ever attended the Commencement Day Exercises and do not realize until the day approaches how inadequate Sanders Theatre is for the ceremony. With 800 to 1000 degrees to be awarded, and a seat required for each one of the recipients, not to mention the faculty and dignitaries, there is but little room left for the accommodation of friends, or even parents of the graduating class. In past years this remaining space has provided guest accommodations of one seat for approximately one-fourth of the Senior class, i.e., every fourth Senior received one guest ticket. Obviously, under such conditions Sanders Theatre cannot begin to provide for all those who desire to attend.

How much better it would be with the facilities of the Stadium at hand, and ample seating capacity for all those who wish to see and hear, to hold the Commencement Exercises there, where the dignity and stateliness of the academic procession in the open may be appreciated, rather than detracted from by cramped entrances and a sultry, over-crowded room.

Moreover, holding the exercises in the Stadium is not unprecedented. In 1916, the last large class before the war, the Commencement Exercises were held in the Stadium with remarkable success, and would very probably have continued had not the small classes during the war made this unnecessary. Of course, in case of rain the exercises could be held in Sanders, and even then we should be no worse off than before.

In order to show the sentiment of the Senior class in favor of this move, copies of a petition to the authorities have been placed, with the approval of the First Marshall, in the entries of the Senior dormitories and in the Crimson Building. Seniors are urged to sign the copies at once, in order that they may be collected and forwarded to President Lowell as soon as possible. RANDOLPH B. SMITH '22   HAROLD B. BROSS '22   JOHN F. STEARNS '22

May 3, 1922.