Graduates now allowed four Commencement guests

Graduating students can now bring four guests to the Commencement ceremony, scheduled for Saturday, May 21 at the East Campus Athletic Village at 8:15 am, according to an email sent out on Friday. Registration information is set to come out sometime this week.

The Polytechnic asked seniors for their thoughts on the upgrade from two to four graduation tickets.

Many students appreciated the change. Anisa Misra ’22 told The Polytechnic, “I am super excited that I can now have 4 people to see me graduate. My full family will be able to see my big day in person.” Adrian Alicea Roman ’22 commented, “I’m glad they gave everyone [four] tickets, now my whole family can watch the ceremony!”

Ohad Nir ’22 remarked, “I was very thrilled to hear that RPI is allowing more guests to attend commencement. Only allowing two guests was outdated with the current state of Covid and what science was telling us. I’m glad my parents and little sister can be there with me for this important milestone in my life.” Nate Zink ’22 responded “I was pleasantly surprised that RPI allowed everyone with four tickets. I’m glad that I can now bring my two sisters along with my parents.”

Other seniors, however, thought the announcement did not make enough of a difference or came too late.

Tal Margalit ’22 said, “I understand that RPI has to follow COVID guidelines (that have been changing constantly), but I have family living abroad that are flying in for graduation. It sucks that they have to watch my graduation from a TV screen. I need a few more tickets.”

Ellis Bronstein ’22 told The Polytechnic that “Unfortunately, I’m still probably not going to go because I would’ve had to make plans a long time ago and [t]his announcement is coming pretty late. I think it mostly helps those who live in the area and can have friends/family come by with little planning ahead. If someone would need a plane ticket… finding out now doesn’t really change things.”