Loos Field new site; May 3 set
North Lake College students will no longer graduate at North Lake College.
Officials said commencement ceremonies are moving to Loos Field, an indoor sports arena in Addison, because of a steady increase in graduation rates.
“We were running out of room here at North Lake,” said Mary Ciminelli, vice president of student services and enrollment management. “This is the first time graduation will be held off campus.”
The stress of last year’s ceremony pushed officials to look for a bigger space, she said.
Last year, North Lake officials planned to hold graduation in the parking lot between the tennis courts and the baseball fields in the northern half of the campus, but opted instead for an indoor site.
“We can’t guess the weather,” Ciminelli said.
So, officials decided to move the ceremony to the gym and send any overflow to the Performance Hall, where people could watch live video on a large screen.
That plan proved unpopular.
“Families weren’t happy about having to watch the graduation on a screen,” Ciminelli said.
“Moving into the gym is no longer an option due to the size of our ceremony,” added Dr. Herlinda Glasscock, North Lake’s president. “That’s a nice problem to have.”
“We really push students to graduate,” said Ellen Brown, associate registrar at North Lake. “We keep them updated through mail and e-mail.”
Graduation will be held this year on Saturday, May 3, at 10 a.m.
“Graduation brings to mind three of our [school’s] values,” Glasscock said. “We value our commitment to excellence in teaching and learning. We value a strong sense of family and community, and we value fun and joy.”