As the semester is coming to an end, many seniors are preparing to graduate. There’s been one question asked as seniors prepare for their commencement. Why just six tickets? 

Some Sacramento State students are frustrated over the lack of tickets provided for them. But there are reasons why the seating is limited. In response to the issue, students have begun buying and selling tickets online.

“The number of tickets in the initial allotment is based on the total number of graduates in a college divided by the total capacity of Golden 1,” President Robert Nelsen’s interim deputy chief of staff Kristen Tudor said via email. 

 According to Tudor, the limit on tickets per student is meant to allow all attendees to have a fair amount of tickets.

Many Sac State students have resorted to Reddit pages that have since been removed for sourcing tickets to buy from their student peers, which is something that the school does not permit. 

There have been no penalties imposed as of yet, Tudor said, adding that if students persist in selling their tickets after being reminded that selling tickets aren’t allowed, the school will consider penalties. 

Fourth year Social work major Aryanna Zavala Cortez said she believes there should be an option to buy more tickets for people who really need it. According to her, the small amount of tickets limits the sharing of the experience with her people.  

“We have a higher percentage of Latino students…Latino families are pretty big and students need more tickets for that,”  Zavala Cortez said. “I do think there should be more tickets given out besides the six.” 

It’s a bad feeling, according to fourth year business major Karely Rivera, to leave certain members of her family out when they’ve been an important part of her continuing her education. 

“Having a big family makes it difficult to pick and choose from just six members of my family,” she said. 

Commencement is an emotional affair for many students, like fourth year business major Jaden Calderon, who said he wants as many people as possible to attend the ceremony. 

“It’s a big moment in everyone’s life, they want all their family to be there,” Calderon said.  “So it’s definitely important to have as much family as you can to be there to see you walk at your graduation.” 

The reason a lot of students would want to invite their whole family to their commencement is because of how big of an achievement it is for many people, according to Charlene Francisco, a fourth year communications science and disorders major.

“For a first generation student you would want to have as many as your family members,” Francisco said.

According to Francisco, it is hard having to exclude certain people like her grandparents because of the lack of tickets and she doesn’t know if her parents will be around for her next big achievement.

According to Tudor, however, there may be a solution, as some students will be eligible to claim a few extra tickets that have gone unused.

“Once all eligible graduates have had a chance to claim their six tickets, in late April or early May, we will release additional tickets (if available) on a first come, first served basis,” Tudor said. “Unlike in past years, students can register up to the day of Commencement – to serve those students who register late, we will hold back a few guest tickets.”  

Tudor said the committee plans to have extra tickets not only for those who need them but also for students who waited a bit longer to claim theirs.  This will allow those who register late to have the chance to get a hold of some tickets and not be left without the opportunity of inviting guests.  

Additional information was released for graduating students to apply for limited additional tickets, according to an email sent by Sac State.