Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia will see increased traffic around certain areas of campus this week as it gears up for its spring Commencement ceremonies.
Motorists are asked to use caution when driving on Broad Street near the Arch as graduating students gather to take photographs. The university also will have a temporary platform in place Sunday, May 11 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. to allow students with disabilities to pass through the iconic structure.
Wireless service in Sanford Stadium will be intermittent during spring undergraduate Commencement on Friday, May 9 at 7 p.m. due to an ongoing project to upgrade the distributed antenna systems. This means cell phone service may be slow or unavailable when the stadium is crowded before, during and following the Commencement ceremony.
“We are asking all graduates to make a clear plan with family members—prior to arriving at the stadium—outlining how and where they will reconnect,” said Meg Amstutz, associate provost for academic programs. “We want graduates and their families to be able to find one another easily when Commencement concludes.”
Multiple vendors are currently working on the wireless systems in the stadium to improve service for future events. The project will be completed this summer.
Undergraduate Commencement will be held inside Sanford Stadium rain or shine. Only in the case of severe weather will the ceremony be rescheduled for Saturday, May 10 at 10 a.m. The decision whether to hold the undergraduate exercise outside or move to the severe weather plan will be made by 10 a.m. Friday, and the information will be placed on the UGA homepage, http://www.uga.edu/, by 10:30 a.m.
For guests who do not wish to attend undergraduate or graduate Commencement in person, the ceremonies will be broadcast live on channel 15 of the university and Charter cable systems and in the Tate Student Center Theater and streamed live at http://www.ctl.uga.edu.
The undergraduate ceremony will end as usual with a fireworks sendoff. Graduates and guests are requested to remain in place at the conclusion of the ceremony. The west end zone sections of the stadium are fireworks safety zones and will be closed to the public until the all clear is given from security following the fireworks display. The announcement will be shown on the Jumbotron after the fireworks are complete.
For more information on Commencement at UGA, see http://commencement.uga.edu/.
