As Pitt imposes ticket limit on graduation ceremony, some worry that family will be left out

The April 19 message sent to University of Pittsburgh students readying for graduation Sunday began routinely enough:

“We are very excited that so many graduates will be joining us at the universitywide commencement ceremony on April 30, ” it read.

Then came the next sentence, posted in bold:

“Due to the overwhelming graduate response, tickets will now be required to enter the Petersen Events Center.”

For Pitt, the problem seems to be one of math and building safety. It expects upward of 2,500 graduates, 400 more than the number who showed up last year with family in tow, all hoping to find a place in an arena with 12,508 seats.

So the university is offering up to four free electronic general admission tickets per graduate through Ticketmaster. The tickets can be transferred but only through a Facebook swap.

For students, the problem is a ticket restriction that was announced a week and a half before a milestone event in their lives. It will limit family attendees, including some who already booked nonrefundable travel from elsewhere in the nation or even abroad.

Among those stressing is Shahd Habeb, 21, a chemistry major who is Syrian and has lived with relatives in Allentown since she was 16. Her mother already flew in from Doha, Qatar, and is planning to attend with 11 close relatives, including grandparents, an aunt who was her guardian in this country and her husband, as well as other relatives.

All are traveling cross-state this week and staying in a nonrefundable Airbnb they booked before the ticket limit was announced.

“I’m their first-born grandchild to graduate,” Habeb said Monday. “This means so much to them, and they helped raise me.”

“My mother offered to give up her ticket so one of them can go, but that breaks my heart,” she added. “I want my mom there.”

In an email late Monday, Pitt said, “The decision to use ticketing for guests this year was driven by the increase in students attending commencement, which wasn’t confirmed until registration closed on Friday, April 14th.”

In a separate series of messages to students beginning last week. the university said tickets can be transferred by registered students who don’t need their allotment to other students who do. It provided instructions once registered graduates began receiving their allotments Monday afternoon.

But the swap must be done electronically through Facebook, and some students worry they could be left in a desperate hunt to secure extra tickets or disappoint family.

‘’We hear your frustration regarding commencement tickets and will continue to email updates to your pitt.edu email address,” Pitt said in a follow-up message.

“To access your tickets, you will be required to use the password that will be provided … to your pitt.edu email address and the Ticketmaster app on your device. Your unique password is one-time use only, and the link or any remaining tickets will not be accessible after checkout. No paper tickets will be accepted at the doors,” Pitt explained.

Pitt says those unable to enter the Pete can spend time outside the building with graduates before and after the ceremony and watch a livestream of the event in the Fitzgerald Fieldhouse, William Pitt Union or online.

Habeb said that is a poor substitute for relatives and friends who took off work and are a big part of her life.

“I am going to feel so guilty if they can’t see me walk,” she said.

Another soon-to-be-minted Pitt graduate, Nenyasha Shoko, told the student newspaper, The Pitt News, that she and her family members faced the prospect of deciding which ones could get in and which ones would be left outside, even though they already have purchased flights from out of the country.

“I’ve gone here for four years, it’s expensive to go here, and I’ve worked hard to graduate,” Shoko, a sociology and communication major, was quoted by the publication as saying. “For the school to turn around and be like, ‘Well, you have to choose who can actually watch you graduate and everyone else can either stay home or watch on a screen,’ feels disrespectful. They’ve had these numbers for a while, so why couldn’t they have told us earlier?”

Her situation has since improved, she told the Tribune-Review late Monday. Another Pitt senior decided not to attend and has indicated she can offer Shoko three tickets — so her brother, boyfriend and best friend can join her group.

“I think people are finding solutions,” said Shoko, 21, who is hoping to secure seven tickets in all. “I also know a lot of people are still stressed out because there are so many students who have more than four people coming.”

The 1 p.m. universitywide ceremony in the Pete is in addition to various school and college celebrations within the university set for this week and in May.

For decades, Pitt has held a main universitywide ceremony, typically the last Sunday in April or early May. But it split the event into separate ceremonies in 2017, one for graduate students at 4 p.m. Saturday and the other for undergraduates at 1 p.m. Sunday.

The practice continued until the pandemic hit in 2020.

The move was a response to students who wanted a more personalized ceremony, Pitt officials said at the time. Two ceremonies enabled each graduate’s name to be called.

Ceremony formats have evolved during the pandemic years.

“In 2020, the celebration was virtual. In 2021, there were 9 ceremonies to allow for social distancing. In 2022, Pitt hosted one undergraduate universitywide ceremony, like this year,” Pitt said in its statement. “Many of the schools and colleges host graduation events for undergraduate and graduate students.”