Michael Zhou ’21
Peter Woodville ’21
This year, the Episcopal Academy senior class consists of 144 students – larger than any previous graduating class. As a result, the 2019 graduation ceremony has become a topic of recent debate. The issue is space; the students, their families, and the faculty all need to fit into the chapel. There has been speculation about moving the ceremony from the chapel to the Clark Campus Green, or even removing some people from the ceremony completely. Cheryl McLauchlan, Dean of the Class of 2019, quickly dispelled many of these rumors: “What we’re trying to figure out is where the faculty will sit. Two things are for sure though: the families will not be affected, and the graduation will be in the chapel.” McLauchlan went on to say that this is the first time space has been an issue: no other graduating class has been large enough for it to be a problem.
No building on EA’s campus is as distinct as the Class of 1944 Chapel. McLauchlan details the significance of the chapel as the final send off for the seniors: “People feel very strongly about the chapel being central to who we are, and it should be where you end your high school career.” Mclauchlan explains that as a religious school, the chapel is the core of the school and its values and moving the ceremony to the green would undermine the tradition of EA graduation from years past. The main topic of contention lies in the question of faculty presence. Haig Megerian ‘19 says: “I’d rather have teachers there to watch at least … we go through four years with them, so it would be nice to have them there when it’s over.” Ivan Puskovitch ‘19 comments: “Of course, I appreciate the teachers and everything they have done for us, but if there’s going to be problems with space, I feel like it would be fine without them: it’s mostly ceremonial, anyways.”
McLauchlan went through some of the preliminary ideas and solutions being considered so far: “One idea that we have had is that only the faculty giving out awards will attend instead of the whole faculty. Another is maybe the Board of Trustees would not attend. We’re really just trying to figure out who’s going to give up their tickets, and it is not going to be the families.” As for the faculty’s perspective, Zachary Richards, Dean of the Class of 2021, comments: “I know many of the seniors. For me, saying goodbye and congratulating those students, maybe before or after the ceremony, is more important than actually being at the ceremony. The ceremony is more for the kids and their families: I don’t feel like I need to be there if there’s going to be a space issue.” As of now, although the discussion is still ongoing, there seems to be two things that are certain: the families of graduating seniors will not be affected and the graduation will be held in the chapel.