Dear Editor:

I am writing to express my disappointment in the scheduled time the law school graduation this spring. Having the graduation on a Thursday at 4:30 p.m. is a hassle to my family as well as for the families of many other students. My parents do not live very far away, but they do work, and taking at least a half-day off of work is inconvenient at best. Some members of my family (siblings, in-laws) live and work in St. Louis, so taking a day off work to drive to Carbondale to turn around and get home late in the evening to go to work the next day is a lot for me to ask of them, yet they still support me and would like to attend to see me receive such an important honor.

Additionally, in May my husband will be in the St. Louis area, and he may not even make it down for the graduation at all. Based on the comments I have read online posted for the Daily Egyptian editorial on this topic, at least a few people believe that law students are fighting this graduation time because we simply want an excuse to party. Even more hurtful, people believe we should “get over ourselves” because we are simply graduating from SIU Law (and I guess, by implication, not some “more important” law school) and because JD degrees are a “dime a dozen.” I can’t believe people could be so insensitive to the fact we have spent the past three years working hard for a doctorate degree, with our families sacrificing along with us every step of the way. Many of us could not have made it to graduation without the emotional and financial support of our spouses and immediate families. They deserve to see us graduate if they want to and maybe even go out to dinner with us afterward without having to worry about the work they’re missing or when they have to get back home to go to work the next day. I am only one person out of a class of more than 100, and my story is not unique. I sincerely hope the administration will take this into consideration and be more sympathetic to us instead of simply insisting the ceremony not be moved.

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Diane Klocke

third-year law student