VOL. 23, NO. 23	MAY 20, 1998

he annual effort is “like a ball game,” said Enso Rodriguez, who for 22 years, along with more than 200 of his colleagues in Facilities Management, has pulled out all the stops at commencement time.

  The carpenters, mason tenders, cleaners, mechanics, groundspeople and other employees are part of a team. “Nine innings and everyone’s a winner at the end of the game. All of us take so much pride in commencement,” he said. “We do it for the kids and parents.”

  Visible preparations for commencement kick into high gear toward the end of April, with the arrival of 1,000 feet of brown picket fencing and 300 stanchions from storage at Nevis Laboratory in Irvington, N.Y. Pieces of the platform that will sit in front of Alma Mater and support faculty, deans and honorary degree recipients arrive and are assembled in early- to mid-May. Other important commencement work takes place closer to the events. For instance, Myers Audio-Visual, a company that has provided sound at Columbia commencement for 20 years, will install 16 powerful speakers, 600 feet of speaker wire and 800 feet of signal line.

  Planning for the next year’s ceremony begins almost immediately after 23,000 chairs are folded up and carted away from Low Plaza and South Field by Abbey Rental. Marilyn Andzeski, Facilities Management’s manager of special events, who each year prepares a detailed schedule of commencement-related tasks, critiques and incorporates improvements into plans for the following year.

  Andzeski works closely with Vilma Gallagher, assistant to the president, who is responsible for overall commencement coordination, including facilities, printing and distribution of programs and tickets, recruiting and training of close to 200 commencement marshals, ordering all equipment and arranging for the distribution of more than 10,000 caps and gowns.

  Faculty, staff and student commencement marshals, and about 100 security guards—some full time staff and some hired for the day—will help direct the crowds who come to watch the ceremony.

  Asked what would be the most accurate way to quantify the massive effort that goes into commencement season, Bob White, assistant vice president for buildings and engineering services, offered that the most accurate measure might be “how many packages of Tums are consumed.” But, when the ceremony is successfully concluded, no amount of aggravation and hard work can take away from the satisfaction. After the event, said Rodriguez, “We give each other the high five and say, ‘We did it.’”