Class of '96 graduation may change

Convention fills all hotels Parents of members of the Class of 1996 may be trading plush hotel rooms for extra-long twin sheets and high rise elevators next May, according to Residential Living Director Gigi Simeone. Because of a medical convention scheduled to be held on the same weekend as the Class of 1996's Commencement, most hotels in Philadelphia are already booked solid, she said. University Secretary Barbara Stevens said the University is currently discussing with the city the possibility of changing the date for the Commencement, which is currently set for May 20. She expects the University will make a decision on the matter within the next 10 days. According to Simeone, the University may adhere to the date and opt to simply rent out rooms in the high rises, Kings Court and English House for approximately $60 a night. "It's dorm style," she said. "That's part of the college experience for them." Traditionally, the University rents out high rise rooms to alumni over Alumni Weekend. For parents who do not feel like re-experiencing dorm life, hotel rooms in suburban Philadelphia have not been reserved by members of the convention, Stevens said. There is also limited space available in the Penn Tower Hotel and the Sheraton in University City -- although it is not nearly enough to accommodate all of the families of 1996 graduates, she said. Sheraton reservation agents said last night, though, that they are already booked for the date. Simeone said rooms in Kings Court and English House will also be made available to parents attending the Class of 1995 Commencement on May 22. "It's something that has come up often as an idea," Simeone said. "We've gotten many requests over the years." For the $60 a night price tag -- about half the price of a room at the Sheraton -- residents will be provided with a set of bed linens. They will not enjoy traditional hotel services, such as room service or housekeeping. Stevens said the overlapping dates of the convention and 1996 Commencement was an oversight that will not happen again. "[City officials] have now insured that the date of Commencement is recorded on all of their calenders," Stevens said. "Penn's Commencement is one of the largest conventions the city can attract." The date of last year's Commencement was changed because of an American Psychiatric Association convention. In that case, Stevens said, the University agreed to change the date of graduation because it was a "special anniversary" for the APA, and the city had requested that the University alter its academic calender five years in advance.