By: Blaine Leonard, Lion’s Eye Staff Writer, bpl5460@psu.edu 

The campus development team is rolling out a new commencement format for Penn State Brandywine’s Spring ‘24 commencement.  

 Historically, Penn State Brandywine has hosted two commencement ceremonies each year, one in the fall and one in the spring. Director of Campus Development, Patton Vo said, “. . . recently there has been a decline in the enrollment of students graduating. This is not a unique issue to Penn State, it is across the board that less people are going to college.”  

The national trend affected Brandywine’s commencements as well. Fall attendance last year was “just roughly 30-40 students,” said Vo.  

This made the campus development team reconsider if the campus really needed two commencement ceremonies. Vo said, “We can leverage the resources that we typically would have to really elevate commencement. The combined event helps us include events like taking senior portraits at the grad fair. We can now invest in stalls and other ways to celebrate the experience. We are bringing vendors to campus during commencement so families can purchase flowers, teddy bears, and all the tchotchkes of celebrating commencement.” 

The hope is to create a “last-year-senior experience” Vo mentioned. Other ideas on the table include activities or programs and even possibly a senior trip because, “we have not historically done this. We are thinking of trying to elevate this experience by adding more programming and engagement,” said Vo. Thoughts also include increased programming around commencement throughout the year.  

Penn State Brandywine expects more students to graduate and walk in commencement in the spring. Vo said, “Some of the things that are changing is how do we celebrate our seniors? At the grad fair there will be headshots and photos, because when we call names at the ceremony, an enhanced photo will appear on stage that lists the student’s Brandywine activities. On the other hand, on a second screen, the student’s family photos will be displayed. We have not done this in the past, but now that we have the additional resources we can invest in this process.” 

Vo says, “we hope to have more student speakers at commencement. Typically, we have about 2-4 students speaking and the hope this time is to look for 5-6 so all students are represented.” Vo is excited about bringing keynote speakers to commencement. “We are currently exploring two keynotes to come who are both senior executives for a fortune five hundred company,” said Vo.  

“This is the new, this is going to be the new model, so that way we are prioritizing celebrating seniors,” said Vo. The idea is that this new model allows students to be involved in shaping their own experience. 

Vo continues to shape the new look of Penn State Brandywine’s commencement celebration and hopes the students get more involved to be recognized in their commencement. 

This year’s commencement is scheduled for Saturday, May 4, 2024. Email Patton Vo at pmv5166@psu.edu with any questions.