Friends and family members will travel from as far as Madagascar for this year’s commencement ceremony.

Pat Burak, director of the Slutzker Center for International Services, said her office helps coordinate travel plans for international families by sending out letters of validation along with the commencement invitations. The letters aid in the visa process, she said.

‘The person can take the letter to the consulate, and then that mom from Pakistan who wants to travel to the U.S. to see her student’s graduation can do that,’ Burak said.

Burak said more than 500 international students get their master’s degree from Syracuse University every year, and this year, the large proportion of graduate students continues.

‘Fifty percent of the Ph.D.s that will walk across that stage Sunday will be international students,’ she said.

Burak’s office also helps a small group of two dozen students a year who graduated in the past but couldn’t march in graduation for one reason or another. The students often wish to come back to march and petition her office to do so. Burak looks to make sure the students’ immigration records are up to date and they have legal status.

‘It’s very important to students to get that pomp and circumstance, that closure,’ she said.

As far as family travelers go, Burak said she’s spoken to family members from all over the world, estimating that the farthest visitors will be coming from Madagascar and China – both daylong trips.

At commencement, the Slutzker Center coordinates a display of international flags so that every SU student from a foreign country’s national origin is recognized. This year there will be 84 flags lining the floor on both sides of the stage.

‘It’s sort of a tradition for them to go stand by their flag and get their picture taken. It’s amazing how popular it is,’ Burak said. ‘SU is proud to represent that they’re proud to have a student from that country there. It’s a very personalized part of the ceremony.’

Colleen Bench, director of the SU Parent’s Office, has also helped parents with lodging, travel plans and other arrangements. The Parent’s Office set up a Web site and offers tips on what to wear, where to park and other travel preparations.

‘The ones from Hawaii and California are petrified it’s going to snow,’ Bench said. ‘We’re trying to reassure them that they won’t need their Uggs.’

Bench said she also had two families call her from Mexico who were worried about swine flu. Many others have called to inquire about security precautions surrounding Vice President Joe Biden’s commencement speech.

Despite the concerns, Bench said it’s mostly a celebratory time for families.

‘I think the most exciting thing is when you talk to a family with multiple graduates in a family, this may be their fourth or fifth graduate,’ she said. ‘So you get the parents, the older brother or sister, all returning to campus with real Orange pride.’

jmterrus@syr.edu

Published on May 13, 2009 at 12:00 pm