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Graduation, in Hell

Farmer Ted Mar 06 2008 12:10 PM

It looks like this is still on... Sox, Met fans irked about grad spot For Red Sox fans, it's your worst nightmare: Front and center in Yankee Stadium receiving your diploma. Is this hell? NYU Red Sox fans say yes - and it's a reality. It has been a month since NYU announced its decision to hold this year's commencement at Yankee Stadium, home of what Red Sox and Mets fans consider the Evil Empire. Usually held in Washington Square Park, the ceremony was moved due to renovations. "If that happens to me, I will cry," said CAS junior and lifelong Sox fan Rachel Chapman. "Graduation is such a community thing, and when you put it in a sports stadium, you're including another community." But depending on the baseball game schedule, the 2009 graduation could be moved to Citi Field, the new home of the Mets, set to open in April 2009. If the class of 2009 has their commencement in Yankee Stadium, however, there is a chance it could be in the new Yankee Stadium, also opening in April 2009. "I would rather graduate somewhere that's more neutral, because I've always kind of thought of graduation as a momentous, happy occasion, and I wouldn't really want to associate it with the Yankees," said CAS junior and Mets fan Francesca Basile. Some students believe feelings of community are not limited to a graduation in Washington Square Park, and that Yankee Stadium qualifies as a uniquely New York experience that makes its selection as the 2008 graduation setting entirely appropriate. "NYU is supposed to be a university that is 'in and of the city,' not a university that is in and of Washington Square Park," said CAS junior Alex Hogan, a Mets fan. "I hate the Yanks, but Yankee Stadium is a landmark and Shea isn't." CAS junior Carla Benton disagreed. Benton, though not a baseball fan, would prefer that graduation take place in a more familiar, Manhattan-based setting. "People are going to be coming from all over to see their family and friends graduate from a school in Manhattan," she said. "For that graduation to not be in Manhattan is a little ridiculous." Some fans are indifferent, as long as the Yankee element is kept to a minimum. CAS junior Caitlin Perry, a Red Sox fan from Vermont, said she is fairly neutral, explaining that "as long as there's not Yankee paraphernalia in our pictures, then it's fine." But for Yankee fans, this is a dream. "I'm totally freaking out!" said lifelong Yankees fan Ally Sacks, a Tisch senior. "I was like 'they couldn't have picked a better place.'" Kate Thuma is campus news editor. E-mail her at campus@nyunews.com

AG/DC Mar 06 2008 12:18 PM

I think Alex Hogan's ass needs to be a landmark.

Benjamin Grimm Mar 06 2008 12:23 PM

Hogan's a clown. I'm an NYU graduate who did the Washington Square Park thing back in 1985. If it was held in Yankee Stadium, I would have skipped it.

soupcan Mar 06 2008 12:30 PM

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I'm an NYU graduate who did the Washington Square Park thing back in 1985. Wow, you're old.

Benjamin Grimm Mar 06 2008 12:33 PM

Middle-aged, I'd like to think.

themetfairy Mar 06 2008 12:37 PM

Have you seen Washington Square Park lately? It's a total mess - there's no way they could host graduation there. That said, what's wrong with MSG? It's closer to campus, and weatherproof to boot.

Farmer Ted Mar 06 2008 12:45 PM

NYU used MSG a few years ago (I recall because Christy Turlington graduated in '99 or '00 and she had trouble getting a bodyguard into the arena). Was that a winter commencement or was MSG used for inclement weather?

metsmarathon Mar 06 2008 01:44 PM

i think its just silly, honestly. if it was in the old yankee stadium, and i were a sox fan, i'd just be giggling the whole time about the whole 0-3 playoff comeback thing, and that it happened right there. in a new yankee stadium... i'd just be giddy at the opportunity to point out the glaring lack of any inherent history to the place to all the yankee fans wetting themselves. i'd also revel in the opportunity to spit on the same ground that babe ruth never walked upon.

metirish Mar 06 2008 01:48 PM

Take a crap in a corner of yankee stadium if your upset with the grad being held there , they could use the great hall at Ellis Island .

SteveJRogers Mar 06 2008 04:08 PM

themetfairy wrote: That said, what's wrong with MSG? It's closer to campus, and weatherproof to boot. You know, I was about to suggest MSG as well, with the caveat that if it was MSG would NYU soon-to-be grads that are Celtic/Net/Laker/Bull/Heat/Cav/Islander/Devil/whatever fan be bemoaning the fact that they would be graduating in a hated venue? Much to do about nothing, and more Yankee-bashing. Yes Kase that would make me SteveJYankeeApologist in this thread =;) OE: HOLY Crap, I'm the Not-So-Great Kazuo!

Valadius Mar 06 2008 04:20 PM

Here's an idea - Arthur Ashe Stadium. It's got plenty of seats, and it's sports-team-neutral.