May 2021 News
Class of 2020 & Class of 2021 Commencement Weekend (Email)
Tuesday, May 11, 2021
Dear Parents/Students of the Class of 2020 & Class of 2021,
Friday, May 28th and Saturday, May 29th, marks the Academy’s 2020 & 2021 commencement weekend. This is an eventful weekend for Academy seniors and their families. Here you will find acomplete listing of all planned events.
The Indiana Academy commencement ceremony will be held on May 29, 2021, at 11:30 a.m., in the Worthen Arena on Ball State’s campus. The entrance doors are scheduled to open at 10:00 am. Please note: there may be some construction on campus so plan ahead and allow for an early arrival. For the Commencement Ceremony, parking is available around the Gate 1 entrance. Gate 1 entrance is located on the SW corner of Worthen Arena just off Bethel Avenue. Guests and graduates should plan to enter the doors in the lower level of Gate 1. Once you have entered Worthen Arena, the graduates will be directed to the staging area for entrance line up and all guests will go through the bag check area and then directed to the general admission seating via the steps and/or the elevator.
Since we will not be limiting the number of guests per graduate for the actual graduation ceremony on Saturday, May 29th, 2021, we ask all families to plan to sit in marked pods in numbers of 2, 4, 6 & 8 to allow for social distancing between the guests. We are, however, asking families to limit attendees to the number requested in the Graduation Attendee Survey sent out a few weeks ago. Event Staff will be present to help with seating and directing guests to the appropriate pod sections. All attendees, graduates, and staff will be required to wear masks. This will allow us to abide by the COVID-19 policies set forth by Ball State University and the CDC. Be aware: once you enter the arena, there will be no re-entry if you have to leave the building.
PLEASE NOTE: Once the commencement ceremony has ended, everyone will be required to exit the building promptly. It is suggested the attending guests, families, and graduates schedule an outdoors meeting place following the ceremony to meet up since groups are not allowed to congregate in the concourse or lobby of the building.
We ask that all graduation participants display proper decorum concerning attire and behavior. To further elaborate on the dress expectations for the graduation events so students and families can plan accordingly when moving out of the dorm rooms, please see the examples below of appropriate attire for Graduation.
Graduation:
Students: The recommended attire is dress, dress shirt with collar (tie optional), blouse, skirt, dress slacks, or pant suit. Dress shoes or dress sandals, but make sure they are something you can easily walk in because the incline/steps to the stage in Worthen Arena is steep. No flip-flops, shorts, t-shirts, blue jeans, gym clothes or gym shoes.
Students may decorate their mortarboards but the decorations must be flat to the surface and not dangle over the edges. No profanity, racist or vulgar language or symbols are permitted. The graduation events of the Indiana Academy are a joyous but formal celebrations. Please do not bring balloons, air horns, cowbells or other “noise” generating materials to either event. We believe the 2020 & 2021 graduation ceremony will be a memorable and joyous occasion.
Friday Night Senior Awards Program:
Friday, May 28th, starting at 7:00 pm is the Senior Recognition Night Program will be available online virtually. This program will take place similarly to last year’s program for the Class of 2020. This virtual program will recognize all seniors as to what college they plan on attending, scholarships awarded, offices held, and any extra-curricular activities they have participated in at the Academy. The web link information to this event will be published, emailed & posted online via all social media contacts at a later date closer to the actual viewing.
Friday Night Dinner & Saturday Morning Breakfast:
All students will be eating at Tally/Starbucks (with updated/modified hours) from May 9th through the remainder of the semester to include breakfast on Saturday, May 29th (Academy Graduation Day). If you have any special dietary needs during this period, please coordinate with the chef at Tally and/or the BSU nutritionist (Chef: mrhunter; Nutritionist: slgrogg). Please note that lunch and dinner will not be served on Graduation Day (May 29th).
IASMH Family Contact Information:
The Residential & Student Affairs department is requesting to obtain the following contact information for the families who will be staying in Muncie or the surrounding areas during Graduation Weekend. They would like to receive this information from each graduating senior’s family.
This information is needed if for any reason that the Indiana Academy’s staff needs to contact the graduating seniors’ parents immediately. Please complete the information below for the Graduation Weekend. If you have any further questions regarding this information, please contact Mr. Paul Douglas, Director of Residential and Student Affairs at (765) 285-8125. Thank you for your cooperation.
***NOTE*** Here is the Family Contact Information, please complete the following web link (Family Contact Information for Graduation Weekend) by Wednesday, May 26, 2021.
Disability Accommodations for Academy Graduation 2020 & 2021:
If you, another family member, relative, or guest need an accommodation related to a disability (i.e. wheelchair accessibility or sign language interpreter for deaf or hearing impaired) for the Graduation Ceremony (Saturday, May 29, 2021), please notify Mike McClure of your request via email at mmcclure no later than May 21, 2021. It is important that we have this information by the date in order to allow time to arrange accommodations with personnel of Worthen Arena.
Photography, Graduation Pictures & Graduation DVDs:
Crabtree Photography will be taking photographs at this year’s Commencement ceremony. When the graduate arrives at Worthen Arena, they will have a simple photo capture to be compiled into a group image with all graduates and a poised portrait of the graduate with their diploma cover after they have crossed the stage. An order form and a sample of the photos will be available at the following website: https://crabtree-photography.hhimagehost.com/IA. Order can placed beginning May 12, 2021 through June 4, 2021. Once you enter the order website, you will first choose if you are part of the Class of 2020 or the Class of 2021. If you wish to purchase a picture package of the photos, all order instructions will be available online. Portrait orders will be mailed directly from Crabtree Photography to the home address indicated during the order process. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact Crabtree Photography at (765) 747-6971.
The Indiana Academy families will have the availability to purchase Graduation DVD of the Commencement ceremony. It is prepared and edited from approximately five different video recorder positions in Worthen Arena. Families who wish to purchase one or more may order and prepay for them at this time for delivery during the summer. The cost per DVD is $10.50 each. Please follow the current web link (https://commerce.cashnet.com/BALL_ESS010?itemcode=ESS010-S042) to place your order.
Summary:
As we have given the families an enormous amount of information in this letter, please be sure to read all of the information, the attached documents, and process the appropriate needed documentation on the following web links below by Wednesday, May 26th. This would include the following:
- The Family Contact Information Sheet (Family Contact Information for Graduation Weekend)
- Crabtree Photography Order Form (https://crabtree-photography.hhimagehost.com/IA)
- 2020 / 2021 Graduation DVD Order (https://commerce.cashnet.com/BALL_ESS010?itemcode=ESS010-S042)
The faculty and staff commend the graduates of the Class of 2020 & Class of 2021 for their strong sense of intellectual purpose, resilience, performance, and achievement. They have developed the skills and character to succeed in whatever future endeavors they choose. We believe they will mature into the leaders our society requires for its continued success.
Thank you for your kind attention to these details and please feel free to contact Mrs. Candace Manship via phone at (765) 285-8102 or email at cmanship@bsu.edu with any questions you may have.
Sincerely,
Dain W. Kavars, Ph. D.
Executive Director
Jeffrey L. Smith, Ph. D.
Director of Academic Affairs
James Patterson
Chairperson Graduation Committee