UC Irvine Graduates Prep For Pres. Obama's Arrival For Commencement
IRVINE (CBSLA.com) — UC Irvine's class of 2014 has their caps and their gowns.
The only thing left to do is wait for the arrival of President Barack Obama.
In less than 24 hours, Obama will be delivering UCI's commencement address at Angel Stadium in Anaheim.
"I think it's really special. I didn't know Irvine could do such a thing. I knew we could get someone out here, but not the president, so it's really cool that we could get him out here," student Olga Murillo said.
Students wooed Obama for months, sending a video and 10,000 signed postcards to the White House.
"[The ticket to the graduation] has been really hot. I have an anecdote that I know one of our volunteers injured herself and can't be there tomorrow and her doctor jokingly said, 'Can I have your ticket,' so that's how hot that ticket is," UCI spokeswoman Cathy Lawhon said.
KCAL9's Michele Gile reports that 6,600 graduates out of 8,000 have RSVP'd to the ceremony.
Each student is allowed four guests and there's a long list of things they're not allowed to bring inside.
Some graduation ceremony favorites are also banned, including cameras, flowers or leis, signs, beach balls, balloons, noisemakers, and decorated caps.
"Basically, you can't bring anything fun," said graduate Michelle Lee.
Lee is skipping the fanfare on Saturday, noting the fact that graduates must check in at 6:30 a.m.
"I'm not really a morning person, so I don't want to wake up that early to get there," she said.