Quad roped off for May commencement

Campus facilities want to keep the Quad in top shape for the ceremonies.

By Krissy Tripp

Published May 7, 2009

Francis Quadrangle has been roped off since the beginning of April in preparation for commencement. The Quad was roped off last spring as well, but not until later in the year.

"Our ultimate goal is to have the Francis Quad in the best possible condition for all graduates, families and guests to enjoy on commencement weekend," Campus Facilities spokesman Phil Shocklee said.

Junior David Thiessen, a member of the Facebook group, "I wish people would stop cutting across the quad," said preparing the Quad for commencement weekend is a good reason to rope it off.

"I wouldn't want it to be roped off permanently, but I think graduation and commencement is an acceptable, valid reason that I understand," Thiessen said. "There's still plenty of places available if I want to go play Frisbee or anything out there."

The decision to rope off the Quad was made after campus facilities had to re-sod the grass near the end of the 2008-2009 academic year.

"We did not rope it off quite as early last year, but students continued to play Wiffle ball, etc., when the Quad was very wet and we actually were required to re-sod some of the Quad to have it in shape for commencement last year," Shocklee said in an e-mail to Amanda Shelton, Missouri Students Association Senate speaker.

Shelton said because roping off the Quad is an area of concern for MSA, she's begun facility and legal research on the issue. She said she hopes to have results for the project by Spring Semester 2010.

"Francis Quad is a symbolic part of the education experience at Mizzou, a historic location for everything from a game of Frisbee to social protest," Shelton said.

Shocklee said this year, because of wet and cold weather, Campus Facilities feared it would be harder to get the Quad ready in time.

"We had problems getting grass established in some bare spots and had to re-sod some spots," Shocklee said. "With the cool, wet weather, we roped it off earlier this year."

Shocklee said Campus Facilities aerated, fertilized and over-seeded the Quad, but the weather has made it difficult to get new seeds to germinate.

Shocklee said he doesn't see a problem with this procedure for keeping the Quad ready for commencement and doesn't plan to pursue other avenues other than blocking it off to get the Quad ready.

"The Carnahan Quad is a large open green space that is not roped off and we will remove the rope and post from the Francis Quad on the Friday prior to the commencement ceremonies on campus," Shocklee said.

Campus Facilities will be removing the ropes Friday to give graduates a photo opportunity.

"We do realize most graduates will want to have their picture taken by the columns," Shocklee said.