CCU holding four commencement ceremonies because of severe weather threat
Coastal Carolina University will hold four indoor graduation ceremonies instead of the traditional outdoor commencement at Brooks Stadium because of the potential for severe weather this weekend.
A storm system moving up the East Coast will thwart the university’s efforts to showcase the stadium’s new teal turf. The backup plan calls for two ceremonies Friday at the HTC Center and two more at the same location on Saturday. Students will be separated by their individual colleges.
Scheduled commencement speaker Michael J. Gerson, the former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, will appear only at the Saturday morning ceremony. University spokeswoman Martha Hunn said the deans of the other three colleges will speak at their respective ceremonies.
The first Friday service will be at 2 p.m. for graduate and undergraduate students in the E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration. Doors open at 1 p.m.
The second service will be 6 p.m. Friday for students in the College of Science. Doors open at 5 p.m.
On Saturday, the first commencement will be at 8:30 a.m. for graduate and undergraduate students in the Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts and University College. Doors open at 7:30 a.m.
The second Saturday service will be at 12:30 p.m. for graduate and undergraduate students in the Spadoni College of Education. Doors open at 11:30 a.m.
This is the first time the university has been forced to hold its spring commencement at the HTC Center. The facility, which opened in 2012, typically hosts the smaller August and December ceremonies.
“We’ve used the HTC Center a good bit for commencement,” Hunn said. “We’re very familiar with that space and all that we need to do to make it wonderful.”
Hunn said rain alone does not prompt the university to go to its severe weather plan. The possibility of lighting, hail or strong winds forces the school to change course.
Hunn said school officials had to decide on a location Wednesday because of graduates’ family members traveling to the event.
“It really does change the situation for parents coming in,” she said.
Those who wish to view a ceremony but don’t have a ticket may watch a live feed in Wheelwright Auditorium. A webcast of the ceremony will be available at coastal.edu/commencement.
Contact CHARLES D. PERRY at 626-0218 or on Twitter @TSN_CharlesPerr.
Your weather outlook
Expect a rainy few days this week as a subtropic system forms and possibly moves across the coast, according to the National Weather Service in Wilmington, N.C. Rain should persist all day Thursday with a lull in the afternoon and probably continue Friday, said Mark Bacon, meteorologist. Showers and possibly a thunderstorm also are forecast for Saturday.
There’s a high-risk rip current alert all day Thursday as well, so anyone on the beach or in the ocean should be cautious – especially during low tide, Bacon said. Rip currents are powerful channels of current flowing quickly away from shore that most often occur at low spots in the tide.
Anyone caught in a rip current should relax, stay afloat and call for help. Do not try to swim against a rip current – instead, swim parallel to the shore and back to the beach when possible.
This story was originally published May 6, 2015 at 11:37 AM with the headline "CCU holding four commencement ceremonies because of severe weather threat."