This is a petition by the students who have signed below to show our disapproval of the administration’s choice to hold our graduation at Freede Wellness Center.

In the past, students who were graduating were able to graduate in the luxurious, elegant and distinguished Civic Center in downtown Oklahoma City. Due to the space’s lack of availability on the day of graduation, we will not be able to have our graduation in this space. This is not our primary concern and we understand.

Our issue is with the current choice of locale. We feel that while Freede Wellness Center is a part of the university system, it is not a good choice for the law school’s graduation. We believe that we deserve to graduate in a venue that is representative of the prestigious education that we are receiving and that Freede is not representative of the distinguished juris doctorate education.

Additionally, many of us have scraped, saved and borrowed to be able to pay for our education. Therefore, we feel that the amount of money that we have put into this education should be represented in our final send-off. Though the choice of Freede Wellness Center is economical, it is a poor representation of our investment.

Next, we also have concerns about the suitability of the space for elderly, handicapped and/or disabled family members. Many of the students will be inviting many generations of family members, so it is likely that some of those family members will have health issues that will preclude their comfort and access to seating in the space.

Furthermore, some of us are concerned about the lack of student involvement in the making of this decision. Based on the foregoing reasons and the fact that is our graduation, we believe that our class should have received some modicum of deference and notice of the change in venue.

Therefore, at this time, we are requesting that the administration consider changing the venue of the commencement ceremony of the 2017 graduating class and that the change should be made with the 2017 graduating class’ input. Alternatively, we are open to compromise by changing the date of the commencement ceremony in order to hold the commencement ceremony at the Civic Center or a more suitable location.