Graduation at Regent

The Regent Theatre will host its first University of Otago graduation later this month, but the change of venue from the traditional Dunedin Town Hall ceremony has highlighted logistical concerns for organisers.

The university has already been forced to schedule more graduations than usual this year, because of the temporary closure of the Dunedin Town Hall, which is in the midst of a $45 million upgrade.

The Regent, which reopened last week for the start of the International Film Festival after a $7.5 million redevelopment, has a smaller venue capacity than the town hall.

University of Otago secretary to the council and registrar, Jan Flood, told council members this week the Regent venue would mean changes for attending academic staff and graduands.

Academic staff, who are traditionally seated on the stage of the graduation ceremony venue, would find they had a trickier route to access their seats than usual.

Staff members would probably be required to find their seats via a route under the Regent stage and through the venue's orchestra pit, she said.

There were also some questions about how attending graduands would be organised to file on stage to receive the official conferral of their degrees.

While some logistical concerns were potentially "troublesome", ceremony organisers were confident they would have the appropriate measures in place for the scheduled graduation on August 27, Ms Flood said.

The traditional graduands' parade along George St would still take place before the August 27 ceremony, she said. A post-ceremony reception will be held in a marquee on the First Church lawn in Moray Pl.

The university will hold six graduation ceremonies at the Regent in December: Saturday, December 3, Saturday, December 10 (2), Wednesday, December 14 and Saturday, December 17 (2).

 

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