����ֱ��app

May 10, 2025, marks the 139th commencement at South Dakota State University. More than 1,700 graduates will walk across the stage, ready to take the next step in their careers. This year, the ceremonies return to campus — inside the newly renovated First Bank & Trust Arena. After rotating through five different locations over the past seven years, commencement is back on campus to stay.

But pulling off an event of this size takes more than just a great venue — it takes months of planning, a campuswide committee and one person leading the charge. Jamison Lamp, ����ֱ��app’s university event coordinator, joins us to share what it takes to organize such a massive celebration. From seating charts to speaker lineups, we’re diving into the details, the challenges and the joy of bringing this milestone moment to life. Campus couldn’t be more excited to bring this tradition back home.

Transcript:

[Heidi]

So, May 5, 1973, was the first time that commencement was held in Frost Arena. And it was this. It was held in the same spot for 46 years. And then, you know, you kind of came along.

[Jamison]

Yeah, I hope that I didn't cause those other things. But yeah, there had been a lot of a lot of history and a lot of really good notes about how to do graduation in that setup.

[Heidi]

Hello, Jackrabbits Nation. My name is Heidi Bushong, and this is “The Yellow and Blue Podcast.” May 10, 2025, marks the 139th commencement at South Dakota State University. More than 1,700 graduates are set to walk across the stage, ready to start their careers. This year, the ceremonies are being brought back to campus inside the newly renovated First Bank & Trust Arena.

[Heidi]

Campus couldn't be more excited to bring this tradition back home, but pulling an event of this size off takes a lot of planning. There is a committee that helps make decisions, but there is one person leading the charge. Jamison Lamp is the university event coordinator at ����ֱ��app, and he is here to talk about the behind-the-scenes work and what goes into making commencement so memorable.

[Heidi]

Thanks for being here today, Jamison.

[Jamison]

Thanks for having me, Heidi.

[Heidi]

So, I know you have a few commencement ceremonies under your belt. How long have you played a part in this? Played a part in planning this?

[Jamison]

I have been part of graduation now for almost nine years. Or, this is my ninth-year kind of coordinating the efforts that I do. I started in a really small role with graduation. That kind of escalated quickly, if you will. With the nature of some other retirements and different things that happened on campus at the time.

[Jamison]

So, sure.

[Heidi]

I can kind of speak to graduation the same way, right? I am also on the graduation committee. Thanks for the invite. But, I kind of came into all of this in 2020, the year when everything went virtual, and that's when I made it on the committee and I've been on it ever since. So, yeah, it's fun to be in that room and see what all we talk about and what all comes into play, because there are so many elements to commencement.

[Jamison]

You know, I think it prior to probably the time that you came on board and really that committee got started, because of some of the changes that needed to happen that year and we found a lot of value in what, what that group could provide, and so we've maintained that and it really does have a nice representation from across campus from academic dean.

[Jamison]

You know, the university marketing team, which is part of what, why you're there.

[Heidi]

Yeah. Andyi Fouberg from Alumni.

[Jamison]

Records and Registration Office, which is kind of the key keeper of all that data and the student records and preparing all of the names, and so it's been a really beneficial piece to have that committee kind of come together in a more formalized way and be an ongoing part of the at the planning process.

[Heidi]

Absolutely, and one big item on our agenda, obviously, this year was bringing commencement back to campus into First Bank & Trust Arena. Even though it's a same location where we've had commencement before, things are configured a lot differently, as you have so found out. But how does it feel to bring this event back to campus?

[Jamison]

You know, it is really exciting, and there are a lot of things about kind of being in the arena, and as we worked through the plans and kind of gotten through the really mundane things, that I didn't know I wanted to know about, kind of a space and a venue and some of that. But the ability for those families and graduates to be able to come to campus, be part of that really special ceremony and then maybe take one last visit or, you know, photo or whatever the case may be across campus and have that just that kind of parting, you know, moment with the university is really exciting.

[Jamison]

Graduation day is a ton of work. It is a really long day, but there is something kind of people that know me know I'm not a very emotional person, but there is something really grand about kind of kicking off that processional and doing all of that and being able to do that back here just does feel a little bit different.

[Heidi]

Yeah, it definitely all kind of culminates, and we're going to be in a really cool facility, a very “����ֱ��app-y” facility. So, I think there's obviously some excitement in that, too.

[Jamison]

You know, in the in the iterations of coming back to the university and doing some of that, it's like a few of the things that we had to think about in the past of how to make somewhere else feel yellow and blue. Really, the arena takes care of a lot of that, because if you've been there, right, it's a great facility, and every part of that place says yellow and blue and speaks to the pride that we have, not only for athletics, but for the academic side of things and bringing that all together into one, one venue.

[Heidi]

For sure, and what a great time to like, showcase a new facility, too, right? Like, I have a pretty good feeling that a lot of people who will be there for commencement may not have been in First Bank & Trust Arena before.

[Jamison]

Absolutely. We see that, you know, even in years prior when we were in Frost Arena, that many of them would you'd hear chatter in the audience or that kind of thing of like, I haven't been here since college or, you know, if their parents were alums or that kind of thing. So, it is exciting and it's really cool to be able to share that really, really great basketball facility.

[Jamison]

Volleyball and wrestling as well, but to share that with those families in a really different capacity.

[Heidi]

Yes, absolutely. With that being said, a great deal of planning goes into this. What kind of preparation is involved behind the scenes? Because as First Bank & Trust Arena sits is not necessarily how it's going to be that day. You know, we kind of take a lot of elements out of there to make room for all the graduates.

[Jamison]

Yeah. You know, so I know at a basketball game, right, there are maybe 25 people, you know, or a few more with staff and that kind of thing on the floor. We're going to put 650 students on the floor of that arena. And, and make it a really great day for them. But it's going to be cozy.

[Jamison]

It's going to be, you know, I think it's going to feel special and, and it should feel really large for those students as they walk across the stage.

[Heidi]

Which is really cool, really important. And the way the ceremonies are organized is by college. So, you know, you know, I just think of that first ceremony because we know that one's going to be the biggest, the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences and the Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering, those two colleges have, like, really good camaraderie.

[Heidi]

You know, they work really jointly, hand-in-hand. It's like a great way to kick off the day.

[Jamison]

Yeah. You know, we there is a numbers game that factors into how we organize the colleges as well. But we do try to pair them in a way that makes a lot of academic sense or see, you know, you see kind of crossover degrees or, you know, components that have that certainly ag and engineering have a long-standing history, with the ag and biosystems engineering department sharing that the second college. You know, or the second ceremony is the College of Education and Human Sciences, College of Nursing and then the College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions.

[Jamison]

So, kind of brings together that whole group of people that have dedicated their college career to learning more about kind of the human and all aspects of them. And then the final ceremony of the day is the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and then the College of Natural Sciences.

[Heidi]

So much fun throughout the day. In terms of planning, though, you don't just set up a bunch chairs and hope for the best, right? You know?

[Jamison]

No, no. I mean, it's a strategy we could try some year.

[Heidi]

I'll bring that to the committee to see what they think. Yeah.

[Jamison]

No. You know and especially coming back in probably the last three years have had a really different kind of feel and how we do some of that planning. I mean, really the recap meeting that happens after last, you know, academic graduation is kind of the immediate kickoff, to what's going to happen in the next year and, and how we make that happen.

[Jamison]

Maybe meet once or twice, kind of over summer into early October. But then really, that committee kind of kicks off in a pretty regular schedule, kind of starting in December and then kind of amps up into a really intense period, kind of between mid-February and mid-April to kind of put all those final touches on what needs to happen.

[Heidi]

While we as a committee had our final meeting this week, I don't think we totally realized it because it was, you know, still April and you're like, OK, well, this last time we're meeting, like everybody go.

[Jamison]

See you on the day. No, and there's a lot of really great work and kind of by the time of that point in the committee, everyone is off doing the things that they're experts in and making those pieces happen. The really big-picture things, the, you know, kind of high-level topics that need a lot of discussion have been narrowed in and focused and people are ready, ready to go.

[Heidi]

And for us, one of the big topics this year, going into a renovated facility was where do we put people? And like, what do those things look like? Because there's a lot of like, as you pointed out, permanent fixtures, so to speak, in First Bank & Trust Arena. Tell me a little bit about that.

[Jamison]

You know, if you were familiar or had been in the Frost Arena for things in the past, the stage had often been on the east side. I shouldn't say often, had always been on the east side, of that arena. And we are making a flip this year to put the stage on the west side. Part of that is just how you approach the arena as a guest and enter.

[Jamison]

And so you kind of walk in and you feel that really big stage and the banners and the kind of pomp and circumstance of all of that day. And there's some logistical things behind it. You know, as you know, and you're part of those meetings, right? We talk a lot about power and speaker connections and internet connections and all of those things to make a lot of a lot of things happen, that the people maybe don't always think about. Or camera placements.

[Jamison]

How is the streaming going to work ,and how do we get closed captioning built into the space and certainly in a lot of ways? The incredible new Daktronics displays in there bring us a lot of opportunities and ways to communicate with guests and engage them throughout that process. And those are sometimes the things that get way over my head, but also the fun things to really think about.

[Jamison]

How do you capitalize on some of the things that have been input put in place in those venues to help us create a really cool experience for the for the families and for the graduates that day?

[Heidi]

Yeah, and it's not even necessarily all technological either. You know, just because you're ... you know, a basketball court you would think is the same size, but it's, you know, the space on the sides of it, around it. And yeah. How big is our stage going to be? How many people can we have on it? Yeah. How many how many rows of chairs do we need?

[Jamison]

And how much space between the chairs do you need? And, you know, bringing in fire code and all of this other safety components, for our graduates and for guest, to make that a positive experience.

[Heidi]

All things to be taken into consideration. But hopefully, you know, commencement is now set to stay at First Bank & Trust Arena. Hopefully we don't have to reinvent the wheel too much there.

[Jamison]

That is my goal.

[Heidi]

Aboslutely. As we're going to hold the first commencement in First Bank & Trust Arena, traditionally, commencement at this university has been held in Frost Arena, what was known as Frost Arena or Coolidge Sylvan Theatre for decades. Decades. In 1928 to 1972, ceremonies were held outside at Coolidge Sylvan Theatre. And if you're from South Dakota, early to mid-May, they might have had commencement later.

[Heidi]

Back then.

[Jamison]

It was a little bit later.

[Heidi]

So, the weather might have been a little more favorable. But, sounds like come rain or shine, that's kind of what it is.

[Jamison]

It's still a gamble.

[Heidi]

Oh, yeah. Absolutely. And to be honest, like that area of campus, it's so beautiful. It still plays a really big part in graduation day.

[Jamison]

Absolutely. You know, we know it's one of those places that's iconic and historic. And so we've really tried to build that into some of the promotional things we do for the week leading up, encouraging students to go take their photos and do some of those things over there, kind of leading into that week. For the past few years, we've started convocation back on the green.

[Jamison]

Weather in August is a little more predictable than early May. And so I do think as we continue to build graduation and some of those things on campus, like Coolidge Sylvan Theatre and that Sylvan Green and the College Green area hopefully become a place that students really resonate with. And, you know, now with the renovation of Lincoln Hall, the renovations on the Campanile, and, you know, a few touch up pieces on Sylvan, the theatre itself, it's really, I mean, it's a really historic, really beautiful part of campus to do that.

[Heidi]

One way to kind of keep the traditions going, of commencement on campus. So, 1928 to 1972, they were held at Coolidge Sylvan Theatre. But when I was doing my research on this, there actually was one year in particular that they moved it inside. It was actually the year 1969. They had it in The Barn, which just blows my mind, like seeing The Barn today.

[Heidi]

And you're like, how did you fit all these people in here? But, I guess Archives said they moved it in because of weather and George McGovern was speaking. Sure. Which I'm guessing that's probably why.

[Jamison]

Yeah, I hear many stories, too, from graduates that are like, well, we did it on the green and then it started raining and we all, you know, ran to Pugsley really quick or did that kind of thing. So outdoor, although it can be beautiful, certainly does come with challenges like that.

[Heidi]

So May 5, 1973, was the first time that commencement was held in Frost Arena. And it was this, it was held in the same spot for 46 years. And then, you know, you kind of came along.

[Jamison]

Yeah, I hope that I didn't cause those other things. But yeah, there had been a lot of history and a lot of really good notes about how to do graduation. And that setup, you know, we talk about our Facilities and Services grew, and many of them had been there, through all iterations of graduation in Frost Arena.

[Jamison]

And then we did, we went into a series of change, kind of through over the, over the last seven years.

[Heidi]

So, yes. So, for reference, the 2020s obviously brought some unexpected changes, and in the past seven years alone, the ceremony has taken place in five different locations.

[Jamison]

I like to give myself a little credit for the one extra plan that didn't actually, the public didn't get to see, when we did Graduation on the Green, because we were primed to be in the stadium. That year for graduation and then with the success of our football team in a spring season, we moved to College Green, to make sure we could accommodate graduation and the playoff game and all those really cool things that happened for the university that year.

[Heidi]

We think that commencement as it stands is chaos, but the year 2021 was pure chaos.

[Jamison]

Because we did that and the thing that sometimes people forget is we made that move with 12 days’ notice.

[Heidi]

Yes.

[Jamison]

We had like, a plan was ready, like ready to go in a space and then we changed and totally reinvented the wheel.

[Heidi]

Because we it was a semifinal game, right? To go to Frisco. For our first shot at the national, FCS National Championship, and then we moved it to the green, you know, kind of outside the art museum, college, College Green and commencement was held over two days, right?

[Jamison]

Two days, four ceremonies. So we were, you know, 2021 we were coming out of some of the restrictions, and that from the pandemic. And that was the way the university felt we could provide the greatest experience to our graduates and to their families. Was kind of a split over two days, you know, operation.

[Jamison]

And that that was the plan in the, in the stadium as well. And so we kept those things in play and made that move to the College Green and, and I hope, you know, those students went through such an interesting time in their collegiate career. But I do really hope for them that they look back, you know, in time when it comes, right, that they're like, that was maybe the coolest thing that happened, in a space that that no one else, you know, gets to experience that type of graduation.

[Heidi]

Definitely. 2021 unique class for sure. So, we had virtual graduation in 2020. Graduation on the Green is what we coined it as in ’21. And then we were back in Frost Arena for ’22. And that year we were just like, “Oh yay, everything goes back to normal.”

[Jamison]

We kind of know how to do this.

[Heidi]

But it wasn't normal for very long.

[Jamison]

No, no, because actually while we were having graduation, other parts of that venue were already being torn apart to start the renovation on their facility.

[Heidi]

Yeah. Which took place over two years.

[Jamison]

Two years? Yeah.

[Heidi]

They kind of they worked a lot during the summers and like, well into the athletic season, they plan their seasons around these renovations. So really it was like, you know, when school's out, we are getting to work.

[Jamison]

Yeah. Yeah. And really the renovations on the arena started as soon as we went to Summit League play. And that was part of the reason for the move off campus, which we couldn't move to an off-campus venue that kept the same name for two years either. So, it was the same venue, in year one, it was the Swiftel Center, which it had been the Swiftel Center for many, many decades in Brookings.

[Jamison]

And through many great partnerships, they underwent a name change. I like to joke with the facility that they actually put on a new blue roof just for us to have graduation there in the second year. So, kind of a unique, unique thing that happened while we were there.

[Heidi]

Yeah, one thing we could check off our list on how do we make this more like ����ֱ��app.

[Jamison]

����ֱ��app. Yeah. If you'd been in the Dakotah Bank Center or the Swiftel Center prior, they were a very green, and kind of burgundy venue. And so, we did a lot of the planning in those first two years or the two years we were out there was how do you make this feel like ����ֱ��app?

[Jamison]

Right. We want those photos. We want those students to remember their experience and have yellow and blue in the background and not be drowned out by green or other unfavorable colors.

[Heidi]

So, yes, a lot of banners. Yeah, a lot of balloons.

[Jamison]

A lot of balloons. A lot of bunting, a lot of additional fabric work and things that went into making that stage really, really unique for those students, for sure.

[Heidi]

And now that we have those, like, tricks up our sleeve, it's like, OK, now can we just do it again?

[Jamison]

Yeah, yeah. You know, we kind of plan out, you know, as we plan out the week and when things happen, there's become a day that's kind of known as Fluff Day. And it is the day we take and do those kind of special, unique things that help transition that venue from and even when we come back to First Bank & Trust Arena.

[Jamison]

Right. I think we do have a few things kind of in the wings for Fluff Day that we're really excited to share with campus, and we want that to be the really great basketball and, you know, arena venue that it is. But we're going to put a little academic kind of spin on it and make it a little more formal and do some of the things that kind of match the pomp and circumstance of that day.

[Heidi]

For reference, commencement it's not, you know, set up the day before. Tell me, tell me what that week looks like.

[Jamison]

Like I said, we have a Fluff Day. But other other than that, we kind of look at what we have coined, as Floor Day. So, we do the Facilities and Services crew goes and covers all the basketball floor, covers the floors and the practice gyms where the students line up, to really help protect the floor underneath.

[Jamison]

That's really critical, to do that. Tuesday kind of becomes a stage and, you know, other kind of hard structure, things that go into to getting that set up. Sound and all of that kind of rolls in on Wednesday and creates kind of a lot of chaos of chords and a lot of things I don't always understand.

[Jamison]

But we get it all kind of pulled together and do that. And then Thursday is Fluff Day on the calendar. And that is the day, like I said, we kind of, we tie the ribbons on things. We add the special touches here and there and to really be able to make that kind of feel special and unique.

[Heidi]

Yeah. And then Friday's practice, practice, practice.

[Jamison]

True. Right. Yeah. I kind of forgot about Friday because I really have to be done, at end of day Thursday with all the things we do, because Friday is practice. And it is a, it's a long run through and there's a huge, you know, huge quantity of people across campus that are involved in making that happen.

[Jamison]

And, pulling that all together over the course of the day on Saturday. Right. There's there will probably be somewhere between 230 and 250 people working behind the scenes to make sure that that whole day churns and is executed in a way that that meets the standard that we want it to be. So. So yeah, Friday is a lot of practice, a lot of walk through. Our student speakers come in and get to have their kind of chance at the podium and microphone to kind of really understand how big that space is.

[Jamison]

And, and do that. We work with all of the marshals and the faculty that, that are banner carriers and all those other processional pieces, to give them some direction and to help understand how the flow of the day is going to go. And then we do volunteer training for all of our campus partners that have, been there or signed up to, to be part of the day and welcome those guests and make a really quality guest experience, and it's a day we hope we find all the little nuance, things that, you know, we can work out and have time to fix and do all of that.

[Heidi]

For sure. For sure. Well, commencement, obviously it's one of the biggest events that we host on campus. Three ceremonies to accommodate all the people who are looking to walk that day. I'm always curious every year as to know what the numbers look like and seeing what those graduating classes look like. While not everyone participates in commencement, this year, we're having about 1,700 students participate.

[Heidi]

I'm always curious to know, you know, like, what's the biggest college? Like what. What are people graduating with? What are they graduating ... getting their diploma in? And just to kind of bring up some numbers here. 2024 was a very large year. We conferred 2,581 degrees that year. And some of these may not come as a surprise to you, but the top six categories in which people got degrees in: No. 1 is health professions.

[Heidi]

We had 533 people graduate with degree in a health-related field. Next one, 300 agriculture. 208 business, marketing and management. 204 engineering. So those two it's kind of weird to think that like, you know, the Ness School and the College of Engineering are very close in numbers. And then 178 biological sciences and 142 in education.

[Heidi]

And obviously there are many more categories, but those are just the top six. Numbers is a very big thing that we talk about in graduation. And, you know, we've shifted around some things this year to accommodate people like changing colleges at different times. How do the numbers influence the planning of the ceremonies?

[Jamison]

You know, now we're dealing with the numbers. We do a lot of work in that kind of December timeframe. And early fall even, actually, right, to kind of start looking at how that plays, what past years have looked like, kind of try to do that, that breakout and go forward. And it seems like every year we get really close, and then there's always a little surprise and in that just adds a little kind of vigor to the day.

[Jamison]

But it's fun. So, we do we break those down and kind of try to pair them together not only like I talked about earlier, of having some academic connection. But there is the numbers game behind that and trying to try to maximize capacity of our venue and maximize the number of students that we can get through in that time.

[Jamison]

You know, 1,700 is the rough number that will walk across the stage this year. That is pretty consistent. We've seen years as high as 18 or 1,900. But really that kind of 17, 1,800 is a real, a really common place for us to kind of end up as far as the number of students that walk.

[Heidi]

It's just where are they coming from? Which college? Because when you think you have it figured out to a science, like you said, someone always is there to surprise you.

[Jamison]

Yeah. You know, last year we had a different college grouping out of the Dakotah Bank Center, and one of our ceremonies ended up with more than 700 students walking across the stage for that ceremony and you look at past numbers, you look at kind of rates in which those colleges often show up. You look at all of those things, trying to make a really educated guess about how it goes.

[Jamison]

And that wasn't really in the cards. But we made it work. And in the morning ceremonies a little bit that way this year. And sometimes you can look back and pin either change in degrees or, you know, different things that we've done. But not always. And I think we're there a little bit this year in that and that sense.

[Heidi]

Absolutely. Yeah. And it's, I think it's important to note that commencement hasn't always been done by college. You know, I think it's pretty common for other universities to either have like one big ceremony or they do like here's your master's degrees and here's your undergraduate degrees. But I think there was parts of campus were really wanting to bring the colleges together.

[Jamison]

You know, one thing we've heard from our students time and time again, when we've surveyed them or ask them for feedback and done, that is like, we want this really big culminating, you know, experience. And so the committee, I think, has taken that to heart a lot to try to create that and do that. Dividing them by colleges is one of the natural ways to make some of those things happen and change.

[Jamison]

The other piece that kind of comes into play there is making sure that we're doing, things that that match the capacity of our venues. And so that has been kind of the numbers game over the past few years, to that point, when I graduated from here, Heidi, we were one massive ceremony.

[Jamison]

In Frost Arena. And not only were there a thousand students on the floor, but there were some students up into the rafters in the bleachers. Because that was how large the ceremonies had gotten. So beyond, the desire to kind of reconnect those students with their college and offer that really big experience, the venue said.

[Jamison]

We needed to start changing the way we think about graduation.

[Heidi]

I like to think that over time, we've really made our ceremonies more student focused. We have student speakers at every ceremony, and they are highlighted as the speaker. You're not having students sitting in the bleachers waiting to get their degree. You know, they're placed on the floor. No one else gets to sit on the floor. Everyone else gets to look down at them and be like, yeah, like you go.

[Heidi]

And you know, there are obviously certain parts in the ceremony that allude to students in their time here and, you know, the traditional pomp and circumstance. But I also like to think that because we've divided it up in three ceremonies, they are a little bit shorter, which is a little bit more people friendly.

[Heidi]

So that's always a good thing. But speaking with this year's ceremonies, we're coming up here, to May 10. What can people expect at this year's commencement ceremonies?

[Jamison]

As they walked over here? It's raining this morning. I can't help but think that campus is going to be just in spectacular shape.

[Heidi]

So green, so pretty.

[Jamison]

The week from Saturday, right? I get the luxury of looking out over Campus Green and Sylvan Theatre from my office and you can see the tulips starting to pop and the magnolia trees are done blooming. But, I mean, things are just really coming to a place where we're campus has that energy and that really exciting, exciting component to it.

[Jamison]

Our facilities crew is working, I mean, tirelessly right now to do all of the winter cleanup to get this place ready to go and be in tip-top shape for the, you know, 10,000-plus people that will visit campus that day to help celebrate our graduates. And, in the arena. I think you're going to get that really cool connection.

[Jamison]

It does. You know, when you stand on the floor now and you, you're running tape measures and you know, putting little painters tape on the floor to kind of start figuring out how this all goes and running measurements on chairs and doing all of those different things that that happen behind the scenes. You do start to get excited about thinking what that processional is going to feel like and having the band there.

[Jamison]

Right. The School of Performing Arts has always been a really great partner in and making sure we have great, great instrumentalists and great people there to provide us the entrance and the exit and play the school song during the ceremony. When the last graduate walks across the stage and all of that, I think it's going to be a really great experience for those graduates and for their families that come.

[Jamison]

This year, we're also really excited because our on-campus food service provider, Sodexo, has become a great partner in trying to help make this day, you know, even more special and come back and be part of those. And maybe graduates can take their parents or grandma or their younger sibling or whoever is coming with them to celebrate that day.

[Jamison]

And, you know, introduce them to Marsha at Chick-fil-A or, you know, do one stop at Union Coffee before they leave or head to the Dairy Bar and check out all those different things. And so we're really excited to be able to have that experience, for our graduates as well, because that is something, you know, off campus.

[Jamison]

You just you just can't mirror that in the same way.

[Heidi]

Campus is very much open. Yes. That day, I think that's pretty important to note there will be watch parties at the Union, McCrory Gardens. You can go visit the museums, the Dairy Bar. Like you said, that's always a good one. What a great way to like, you know, tip off your ����ֱ��app career here with, like, a good scoop of cookies and cream, right?

[Heidi]

I know that's a really great. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Barry Berry is a good one, too, isn't it? Jamison, seeing you in your position, seeing your work as part of this committee and outside of it, you pour everything you've got into commencement. And I thank you for that. I don't think a lot of people necessarily recognize that, but when you're planning these events, working with people, you're always keeping the graduates in mind.

[Heidi]

Is there anything that you would want them to know or anything that you wish them as they are about to graduate?

[Jamison]

You know, it's a really, it's a really exciting day, and it is for them. And that has that has been a message from administration shared with me. It's something I completely buy into. You know, as you said, I'm fortunate that the people on the committee, the people I get to work with, all of this actually wouldn't happen without Tomoko.

[Jamison]

As everyone knows, to take my notes and do all those things and keep me on track and keep those things there. But having that group of people around you that also share in that vision, is so exciting and, you know, opening up the opportunity for campus to volunteer and be part of this year's ceremony has been really exciting.

[Jamison]

You know, I had people emailing me or calling me or being like, how do I be part of this day? Kind of even before I was ready with knowing what I needed from them at that time. But it goes it goes to show that all of campus is really bought in to that mission. And we do such a great job of welcoming them here as freshmen.

[Jamison]

And we just hope we can mirror and mimic that, you know, on their exit.

[Heidi]

Thank you, Jamison, for joining us today. As we look forward to continuing the tradition and creating new ones as we bring this back to First Bank & Trust Arena. This has been “The Yellow and Blue Podcast.” Congratulations, graduates.