Debate at last night’s Graduate Student Senate meeting focused on the color of custom regalia that graduate students will wear this year at graduation.
David Nichols, vice president for committees and legislative affairs, said that Ohio University went against Graduate Student Senate’s wishes and ordered green custom regalia, despite the fact that senate voted on all black regalia.
“I think the problem now is a communication issue,” Nichols said, adding that green gowns have already been sold to students and that OU said they had no way of tracking who bought them.
Switching out the green gowns for black ones was discussed as an option, Nichols said.
Graduate Student Senate President Tracy Kelly said that OU was aware of graduate students’ wishes.
“They knew that we did not like the gowns since February,” Kelly said, adding that the university did not follow through with the recommendations that were given last quarter.
OU just wanted to make it all green gowns for all of the students, said Molly Yanity, vice president for communication, adding that Graduate Student Senate had already voted against it previously.
“(Students) can still buy the black gowns,” said Chelsie Wollett, vice president for administration and finance. “That option is always going to stay.”
Also mentioned in the meeting was the recent decision to combine the six schools in the College of Fine Arts into three or four schools as OU prepares to switch to semesters in fall 2012.
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