CLC trustees divided on 2011 commencement location

Grayslake? Waukegan? Maybe both?

College of Lake County trustees, meeting as a committee of the whole Tuesday, were divided on whether to hold the spring 2011 commencement at the Genesse Theater or CLC's Grayslake campus.

Trustee Amanda Howland said the ceremony should be at the Genesee Theater in Waukegan, as it was for the first time in spring 2010.

She said the theater provides enough seats and parking for the graduates and all family members who want to attend, plus the beauty and history of the theater makes the occasion “a little more special and important.”

The 2010 cost at the Genesee was about half of what it cost to hold the 2009 graduation at the Grayslake campus. However, officials cited problems such as incoming faculty and staff needing directions on where to go, a crowded space for faculty to line up, stairs creating a safety concern and graduates exiting the theater onto Genesee Street rather than staying for refreshments available in the lounges of the theater.

Trustees Philip Carrigan and John Lumber, and board chairman Barbara Oilschlager favor using the Grayslake campus, saying it is centrally located in the county and the ceremony could accommodate more people with live video streaming in other parts of the campus.

“If we want to promote the identity of the college, the best way to do it is at the main campus,” Lumber said.

The other three trustees are not committed to one or the other. Trustee William Griffin suggested alternating the ceremony between Waukegan and Grayslake.

“If it was at our campus in Waukegan, I might feel differently, but it is just another building,” Oilschlager said. She suggested money could be saved by having the GED graduation and the commencement ceremony on the same day at the Grayslake campus.

Both the GED graduation and the commencement had a record number of students in 2010, with 235 and 361, respectively.

CLC student trustee Edgar Maldanado said he attended the 2009 graduation at the Grayslake campus as student government president and the 2010 graduation at the Genesee Theater. He said students he spoke with about the two locations are divided as well on which venue is best.

CLC trustees will vote on the commencement location at the next regularly scheduled meeting Dec. 14 in order for preparations to begin.