Dolly Parton fans hoping to catch a glimpse of the entertainer receiving an honorary doctorate during University of Tennessee commencement ceremonies next month will have to see her elsewhere, unless they're a graduate or a graduate's official guest.
The commencement for the College of Arts and Sciences is May 8 at Thompson-Boling Arena, and it "will be at full capacity" because of high interest in Parton's appearance, UT-Knoxville Chancellor Jimmy Cheek said Thursday in a memo to UT faculty, staff and students.
Each graduate this year has an average of 12 to 13 guests, up from an average of nine to 10 guests per graduate last year, a UT spokeswoman said, and they'll need tickets to get in.
UT won't be able to accommodate additional faculty, staff or general admission attendees. The arena can accommodate about 21,000 people, but it can handle only about 12,000 for the commencement ceremony because of the stage set-up, UT said.
About 1,000 students will participate in the Arts and Sciences commencement this year; about 800-900 students participated last year, UT said.
"This is a historic event as it is only the second honorary degree to be granted by UT Knoxville," Cheek wrote, following former Sen. Howard H. Baker Jr. in 2005. "As you might expect, we've received a tremendous response for the ceremony. Our first priority is to our graduates to ensure their friends and family can attend the ceremony."
Parton will be awarded a doctorate in humane and musical letters.
Graduates will get a seating card that serves as a ticket into the arena and the graduate seating section on the floor, according to UT's Web site. Students must show photo identification to get the seating card. Graduates will get their previously requested guest tickets with their seating cards.
In the past, for planning purposes, students have been asked to RSVP, but the general public was invited to attend.
The ceremony will be televised at the University Center auditorium, as well as via on-campus TV stations and UT's cable channel. The event also will be Webcast and available in archives.
Chloe White may be reached at 865-342-6341.
© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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Comments » 2
collegegrad writes:
This is similar to several years back when Carson-Newman College awarded her an honorary doctorate degree. The security was tight over there on campus, very limited seating. I am sure Dolly has done a lot for the people of Sevier County, but in my opinion, this is a waste of dollars and time, especially when UT as well as other state schools are undergoing budget woes.
twicevolalum writes:
This is absolutely one of the most ludicrous things I have ever seen out of the University of Tennessee. I graduated with a Bachelor’s in 2003 with a full graduating student body of over 2000 people on the floor, not just the people from my college. Harold Ford Jr. was our speaker and the bottom deck of the arena was not even full. Given the fact that UT has not done a ticketed graduation within at least the last 20 years, it is unclear to me how they now know how many people the average student will be bringing to graduation. Also, I find it difficult to believe that only 12000 tickets are available for every other major event in that arena.
Furthermore, why do Arts and Sciences graduates get to be the only ones to participate in this particular ceremony. What about graduate students? What about students from other colleges including education, a field where Ms. Parton has made vast contributions with her book program.
This is an important and special time at the University of Tennessee. This event should have tickets available to the public. Furthermore, I suspect that as all good UT students do, these tickets will begin to be found on places like ebay or to be sold from student to student.
UT has completely destroyed graduation traditions within the last 5 years with the elimination of the University commencement and replacing it with a music concert and picnic and small "college" ceremonies. There is no honoring of the torchbearers or macebearer. The president doesn't even stand before the students and officially confer the degrees, anymore. Now, at an important time when we can come together as a university to celebrate this event, UT is closing down the graduation to a ticketed event with complete disregard for those who have given of time, effort, and money to this institution and who want to participate in this moment. This is a disgrace and an outrage to the citizens of Tennessee, the students of UT, and the Knoxville Community! Mr. Cheek, just because the University of Florida has ticketed graduations, doesn't mean that is the process here. If we can pack that arena for the circus, monster truck madness, Vols basketball, and every other shenanigan that they want to put on there, they can certainly have a process to welcome the public and especially current students, faculty, and staff to this event!
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