Cal State East Bay's Hayward campus commencement ceremony, previously scheduled for 10 a.m. Sunday, has been rescheduled for Sunday starting at 5 p.m., because of forecasts of inclement weather expected through mid-afternoon Sunday.
This seven-hour delay comes after commencement ceremonies set for Saturday evening at the Concord campus of Cal State University were rained out.
All graduates who planned to participate in the Concord ceremony are encouraged to participate in Sunday's Hayward commencement. Concord students will process with fellow graduates, and have their names read from the stage; graduates from all departments are welcome. Students who previously responded to attend the Concord ceremony will receive additional communication about the specifics of attending the Hayward ceremony.
A notice posted on the university's website stated that wet weather created unsafe conditions at the Daniel Boatwright Sports Complex Saturday, where the ceremony was set to take place.
Though not as planned, some students and their families decided to hold a ceremony of their own.
A notice posted on the university's website stated that inclement weather had created unsafe conditions at the Daniel Boatwright Sports Complex, where the ceremony was set to take place.
"First I was heartbroken, then I was mad," said graduate Sherri Contant. "How could they disassociate themselves from 190 students."
As soon as the cancellation was announced, Contant and her family rallied friend, gathered a microphone and a PA system and decided to hold their own impromptu graduation ceremony.
Only three students participated, which they said was the best alternative to the cancellation.
"I wasn’t going to let her day get ruined," Contant’s husband Stephen Geiser said. "So me and her brother kind of sat and thought, well why don’t we come down here, get some pictures, let’s have our own ceremony."
With rain pouring through out the week, students wished the university would have addressed the weather concerns ahead of time.
"They’ve known that it was going to rain all week, so they should have had other things in place for us," Anderson said.
More information and updates can be found at the Cal State East website.
