I enjoy feedback.

The debate at hand is an issue of class socialization, with which I
don't disagree. I myself come from a traditionally poor rural
background, a first generation college student currently working my way
through an undergraduate education with no financial support from my
family. It's a different world altogether with contrasting priorities
and rules of engagement than those within an academic setting.  There
are certain ideas some students need to learn as they have no basis for
comparison. I happened to come from an excellent, though under funded,
public school system where I was schooled in more than simply passing
standardized tests. Yes, perhaps they are a little old to be learning
these things, but the point is, they haven't. Do we continue to pass the
buck?  As testimony reveals, not all graduations at public universities
are as rowdy as UTC's.  I don't think it is simply a matter that we have
a perpetually ruder group of students nor do I believe this is behavior
that all of a sudden manifests itself at UTC on graduation day. In both
roles as student and employee, I see it shrugged off on a regular basis.
It's more than rude, it's potentially detrimental to individual success.
I must respectfully disagree that this institution should not be in the
business of instilling certain virtues of understanding and respect for
one another as well as cultural differences.

As for me personally, it doesn't really matter.  I will be happy to
simply graduate, ceremoniously or not.

SMS

P.S.  Fittingly, as I am trying to get off to class during my lunchtime,
I am on the phone with my grandfather.  It his 80th birthday and he
wanted to thank me for the video I made about his life growing up on a
pig farm, picking cotton and working on the railroad for 30 years.  It's
about priorities and perspective.