Amid the excitement and anticipation for the Fourth Years' Final Exercises in the coming weeks, an undertone of controversy lingers in the background. Due to the projected two-year phase of the Rotunda restoration project, President Sullivan revealed to the student body on April 10 that Final Exercises will be "re-imagined" starting May 2015. 

The reconsiderations to the graduation ceremony stem from safety concerns and increasing attendance numbers. The Class of 2014 Final Exercises remain completely unaffected, but the classes of 2015, 2016, and potentially 2017 will have to take a break from tradition while the next phase of the Rotunda restoration takes place.

The University offered three new options for students to vote on for the revised Final Exercises while the Rotunda is under construction. Option 1 keeps graduation on the Lawn, but with only two guests allowed per person. Option 2 keeps graduation on the Lawn, but two separate graduation ceremonies would be held and three guests allowed. Option 3 proposes that graduates walk down the Lawn en route to Scott Stadium for the Final Exercises, but there would be unlimited guest seating.

For a university that prides itself on tradition, the necessary changes to the Final Exercises ceremony has devastated and frustrated the students, and in particular the class of 2015, who will be the most affected by the Rotunda construction.

Despite the inherent disappointment with a break from tradition, third-year Alison Dietze was able to inject some humor into her feelings on the Final Exercises changes.

"Basically, I want to graduate on the Lawn because, one, we always lose at Scott Stadium and that is not a good omen for my future, and, second, it's a UVA tradition, and I feel like it's my right as a UVA student to graduate on the Lawn." 

Another third year commented, "I voted for the one that split the graduation into two separate days and you still got three tickets. To me I like the symbology of being able to walk on the Lawn and still have the availability for my parents and my brother to come. Also, I don't mind two separate ceremonies. That's how many colleges do it, I believe, so it's a logical option. I don't love the idea of a huge super ceremony that's hours long. Because graduations are already long days, and you don't want it to eat into the rest of your day too much where you can more casually celebrate with friends and family."

The results of the survey show that the majority of students (19%) dislike the Scott Stadium option the most. Between the other two, overall preference is for the two ceremony option (51%) over the limited seating one ceremony option (30%).

Among the second years, they hope that the construction will be done in time for their Final Exercises. In the event the next construction phase takes longer than anticipated, second-year Katherine Naisawald said, "I would say that the restoration obviously has to happen, but it's unfortunate that it has to interfere with the graduation traditions, and I hope that they come up with a plan that allows us to still have the ceremony on the Lawn."

Although the break from tradition with future revisions of Final Exercises is disappointing and different, UVA did stay true to its deep tradition of student governance in the process. The Graduation Advisory Committee was created with students included to come up with new graduation options, and the student body was given the opportunity to vote on their choice of preference. 

While very upsetting, Final Exercises will still remain on the Lawn with a maximum of three guests. This option stays very close to the original tradition, but the dual ceremonies will be an interesting trial. Some students wished to have graduation with their class all together, but with this option everyone still graduates on the Lawn.