Bring back the December 2017 commencement ceremony

I find it unprofessional to deny students who have worked hard for the last 3 to 4 years a commencement ceremony. Realistically, no student is going to come back after they've taken the bar, either due to forgetting about the ceremony (5 months after graduation is a long time), or more likely, due to professional obligations (bar results should be out in early to mid April if taken in December).

Either: 1) Bad decision, or 2) Explain why this decision was made. Thanks.

I am not convinced that the correct approach toward exceeding the performance of years past is to enforce a policy of negative reinforcement as this administration seems to favor. Continuing to create punitive policies with mediocre outcomes is going to cost more people's jobs in the long run.

This change is understandable for incoming students, but it is unfair to apply it to current students who have worked hard to reach graduation under the pretense that their graduation ceremony would occur at that time. Some students plan to move out of state or have families that will have to make inconvenient accommodations to ensure that they will be able to attend their own graduation ceremony or who may not be able to attend at all under these conditions. This does not affect me personally, but it does affect many of my fellow students. Please show some compassion to them and their individual situations. Thank you!

I think Barry should continue holding two commencement ceremonies - after Spring semester and Fall semester.

I was a Dec 2013 graduate. I would not have liked walking in May after taking the bar exam.

As an alumni I know how important and anticipated graduation is for not only the student but all the family and friends who have supported, sacrificed and worked hard to see this amazing accomplishment become a reality. Not having a graduation for the spring class is robbing them not only of their time, money and hard work but also of a dream that has been anticipated and worked towards for the past three years. If the administration wants to implement new policies, then it is only right to implement them with a new class, not the class that has relied on the previous policy for three years only to be robbed and horribly disappointed after all their hard work, time and money. I do not think that is ethical or just. I encouraged my husband to attend Barry after I had a great experience there and this is not the Barry I knew and loved. Please make things right and prove to your students and alumni that you still care about the students, because without them there wouldn't be a school.

I think changes that happen at the school need to start with incoming classes. Barry is making changes that are really effecting our education and life planning when changes like this happen.

There were not enough tockets for July graduates as it was.

This is horrible. If the school wanted to do this they should have made it effective for Spring Starts or next Fall's incoming class.

Barry University School of Law graduate class of 2013

This is just as bad as when they informed me that even though I was supposed to graduate in May, I was not allowed to take PR my last semester , because it's only open to incoming 1L's. So now, I'm basically being held hostage by the school, unable to take the July bar, because I have to stay behind this summer to take PR. Add to that my lease is up in June, and I have to pay for this one class and living expenses out of pocket, and I've been "Barry-fied." Unacceptable, but apparently, typical. How am I supposed to come up with nearly 10g out of pocket? They're going to make an extra 3800 out of me from summer tuition, but they can't have a December graduation. Really?

This is just further proof that administration doesn't care about the students.

So the school can afford cotton candy and plenty of other unhealthy foods to give out to us but not a commencement ceremony that their students earned... cool!

I am signing so that my children will feel proud at what I have achieved and the sacrifices that I have had to make with their time, for them.

Students have put a lot of work into our studies, we need to walk at the time we finish.

Why is this even a question? Common sense would dictate that those that pay for a service...(i.e. commencement) deserve to have that come to fruition. There is really no excuse for anything less. Law schools that strive to be the best, serve their students to with excellence...other's settle for less than the best and their test scores/reputation reflect such standards.

Unbelievable! They wait until the end of February to drop this news on people who are anticipating graduation next December?! Barry University "School of law" has managed- yet again- to disappoint PAYING students!

Doing away with our hard earned graduation ceremony without reason or explanation by the Barry Law administration is UNACCEPTABLE. Where was the student involvement in making this decision? Students fund this education program and deserve the right to be heard and considered. Silence is not the answer.

The students want to see this graduation ceremony, and I agree that they should have it. I am their president and I support them fully.