{"id":2233663,"date":"2024-04-30T13:41:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-30T17:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/universities-are-cancelling-commencement-students-should-skip-it-anyway\/"},"modified":"2024-04-30T13:45:51","modified_gmt":"2024-04-30T17:45:51","slug":"universities-are-cancelling-commencement-students-should-skip-it-anyway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/universities-are-cancelling-commencement-students-should-skip-it-anyway\/","title":{"rendered":"Universities Cancel Commencement: Students Advised to Skip"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Funiversities-are-cancelling-commencement-students-should-skip-it-anyway%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2233663&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses the author&#8217;s decision to skip\u2063 their commencement ceremony at the National Mall. Despite the prestigious location and unique opportunity, they chose to prioritize personal experiences\u200d over the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/charles-iii-officially-proclaimed-king-in-ceremony-after-queen-elizabeth-iis-death-2\/\" title=\"Charles III officially proclaimed king in ceremony after Queen Elizabeth II's death\">traditional ceremony<\/a>. The author reflects on their unconventional graduation choice and the meaningful experience they had at an electric dance <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/coachella-and-stagecoach-music-festivals-canceled-for-third-time\/\" title=\"Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals canceled for third time\">music festival<\/a>, creating lasting memories in\u2062 a\u200d different setting.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>I did a lot of stupid things in college. Skipping my commencement ceremony on the National Mall is not one of them. As the class of 2024 prepares for another wave of ceremony <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/anti-israel-student-protests-threaten-cancel-graduation-ceremonies-repeat-covid-era\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">cancellations <\/a>this year, here\u2019s some advice: skip them. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <span class=\"uPe2ipNyZEXfaW9Blo5U1KzRM3CIObsg0Y8h7n4vqtmQAVSGH6r\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u201cI\u2019m in shock right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>USC student laments school canceling graduation due to pro-Hamas protests.<\/p>\n<p>These same students missed out on their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pro-palestinian-protests-threaten-graduation-ceremonies\/\" title=\"Protests Supporting Palestine Pose Threat to Graduations\">high school graduation due<\/a> to COVID. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/EJ9gmJfDU6\">pic.twitter.com\/EJ9gmJfDU6<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Standing for Freedom Center (@freedomcenterlu) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/freedomcenterlu\/status\/1785017503779033431?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 29, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>George Washington University (GW) is the only institution with the privilege of holding its university-wide graduation ceremony on the roughly 150 acres known as \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/columbian.gwu.edu\/national-mall-inside-americas-front-yard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">America\u2019s front yard<\/a>.\u201d Every student in D.C. is taught to revere it. At American University, where I spent my freshman year before I transferred, an introductory writing course focused almost exclusively on the National Mall\u2019s importance to American heritage. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1690225408\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-29cd935927bf4e04ea5a13fc1b3445c4 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-29cd935927bf4e04ea5a13fc1b3445c4\"><\/div>\n<p>Once at GW, students could often be found honoring such heritage with frequent trips to the nation\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/mallhistory.org\/items\/show\/82\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">grand avenue<\/a>,\u201d whether it be a sunrise run or under a midnight stupor. Fraternities and sororities take their pictures there. Students visit with their parents there, and tourists from everywhere focus their entire trips there. <\/p>\n<p>The university proudly <a href=\"https:\/\/commencement.gwu.edu\/faqs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">advertises<\/a> exclusive access to the Mall \u201coffering graduates this #OnlyAtGW opportunity of a lifetime each May.\u201d Yet for all of the fanfare associated with graduating with a political science degree in the iconic heart of the nation\u2019s capital, blowing off the commencement ceremony turned out to be one of the best decisions I\u2019ve ever made. <\/p>\n<p>I graduated from GW in 2019, when NBC News\u2019 Savannah Guthrie was the commencement speaker. I reacted to the announcement with a shrug. My problem with commencement was never the alum chosen to speak. Every year, Young America\u2019s Foundation (YAF) releases a survey of university commencement speakers and they\u2019re always near-unanimously leftist. <\/p>\n<p>Out of 100 schools analyzed last year, YAF <a href=\"https:\/\/yaf.org\/news\/leftist-dominance-and-segregated-ceremonies-new-yaf-studies-expose-disturbing-trends-in-university-commencements\/\">reported<\/a>, \u201conly a single conservative voice made its way to the podium.\u201d Instead, the problem for me was the pageantry. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-d07f04c1c5b271e967d6b53099af57b2 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-d07f04c1c5b271e967d6b53099af57b2\"><\/div>\n<p>I started my final semester at GW with two options: sit in a $15 folding chair on the National Mall in the sweltering D.C. heat so I can listen to a bunch of self-righteous administrators speak about how important they are, or head out in my final few weeks of unemployment with all the tip money I could save by working overtime at a nearby bar. I chose the latter. The largest American festival for electric dance music, Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas, was the same weekend, and I was not going to miss it. <\/p>\n<p>If I ever write a memoir, (and everyone should in old age, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/why-you-should-write-a-memoireven-if-nobody-will-read-it-1510326491\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">even if no one reads it)<\/a>, I\u2019ll include the pictures. But my cap and gown felt far more practical in the windy nighttime desert than the outfit would have in the swampy D.C. spring heat. The random people with whom I rented a house in Las Vegas helped me decorate my cap for the second day of the festival, which was the same day as commencement in D.C. <\/p>\n<p>As anyone who has ever been to an electronic music festival knows, these events are filled with some of the kindest, most well-meaning people, even the ones not on drugs (um, just don\u2019t bring up politics). Every random person who saw me in my cap and gown walking through the crowd that second day knew exactly what I was doing: graduating in style. People were congratulating me non-stop, and they did so with an authenticity that frankly, somewhat shocked me after four years in D.C. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s been five years since graduation now, and I still get goosebumps at the memory of my cap toss. I had vividly dreamt in my sleep during my final semester that I threw my cap off to \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=WTrFa9H_lpk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Yottabyte<\/a>\u201d by the Dutch DJ Martin Garrix. When I got to the set, my goal was simply just to throw my cap while on top of someone\u2019s shoulders \u2014 forget about the song, which might not even be played. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-be3f2779a3b09a06f9e7a7aca4a12355 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-be3f2779a3b09a06f9e7a7aca4a12355\"><\/div>\n<p>The people I arrived at the festival with went to see another artist, so I was alone at the performance but made friends with strangers in the crowd, as one does at these things. About halfway through the show, I asked one of the guys, who was built like a college quarterback, if he\u2019d hoist me on his shoulders for the next drop so I could toss my cap. His response was as if I didn\u2019t even have to ask. <\/p>\n<p>As fate would have it, \u201cYottabyte\u201d began to play as soon as I topped his shoulders, and I flung my cap off, never expecting to see it again on the first bass drop. What I also wasn\u2019t expecting was the crowd of 400 people around us who watched this all unfold and cheered when the cap flew. Someone handed it back a few minutes later after the hat made its way through the crowd. That <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-truth-was-totally-ignored-and-omitted-meghans-half-sister-challenges-her-claims\/\" title=\"\u2018The Truth Was Totally Ignored And Omitted\u2019: Meghan\u2019s Half-Sister Challenges Her Claims\">college graduation<\/a> was hands down one of the highlights of my life.<\/p>\n<p>After the festival, I flew straight from Vegas to Costa Rica, where I slept in a bunk room shack and went surfing for a week to recover. I started working for The Federalist when I arrived back in D.C. <\/p>\n<p>Everyone warned me about skipping commencement on the National Mall. Sometimes I wondered whether I would eventually regret doing so. But half a decade later, celebrating at a music festival instead of attending another pretentious D.C. ceremony remains one of my best moments. <\/p>\n<p>So, here\u2019s a tip for students such as those at the University of Southern California (USC) upset over missing out on commencement: don\u2019t be. Go do something fun and make commencement your own. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-ca9d642b2689164c1c590d05604ed018 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-ca9d642b2689164c1c590d05604ed018\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As a member of the class of 2024 facing more ceremony cancellations, consider skipping commencement. USC student expresses dismay over graduation cancellation due to pro-Hamas stance. Avoid regrets like missing out on National Mall ceremony by making informed decisions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":494,"featured_media":2233664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/18143111338_dca760d037_k-e1714493973741.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2233663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/18143111338_dca760d037_k-e1714493973741.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2233663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2233663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2233663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2233664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2233663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2233663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2233663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}