DeAnna McClintock, a senior public health major, and 166 of her friends are on a mission to save summer graduation.

McClintock began a petition Feb. 17 after NIU announced it would merge summer and fall commencement ceremonies.

“I was shocked [and] stunned,” she said. “Just because there are less [students in summer ceremonies] doesn’t mean we deserve it any less.”

McClintock wrote a petition and within two days, had 122 signatures.

“[People were] grabbing it out of my hand,” she said. “It was not hard to get signatures.”

McClintock, who is scheduled to graduate in August, said she is very upset the merge is effective this year. Everyone is caught off guard and “it hits home a lot harder when it’s [effective] this summer,” she said.

Everyone wants to graduate and do everything that goes along with that, McClintock said, including getting a cap and gown and going through the actual ceremony. It is part of the college experience, she said.

Jill Gerzen, a senior public health major, signed the petition. Gerzen said she has worked very hard to earn her degree and has earned the right to have a graduation ceremony to celebrate her accomplishments. Although the administration will allow students to return and attend the December ceremony, Gerzen said students should be able to participate in graduation ceremonies at the proper time.

“I feel like the administrators of NIU, who decided to cancel the August ceremony, have turned their backs on us students,” she said. “It is naive of them to believe that returning to graduate would be just as memorable and as joyous of an occasion as it would have been if we were able to graduate when we deserve to.”

Nicola Bieber returned to school after 13 years of being a stay-at-home mom and will complete her public health degree in August. Trying to juggle parenthood and studies has been overwhelming at times, but it has always been Bieber’s dream to finish college. Having her children see her graduate is the most important part of the dream, she said.

“I close my eyes and envision how I will feel having my family in the stands watching me graduate,” she said. “The anticipation of how great that will feel to me is what drives me to continue.”

McClintock will deliver the petition, which includes signatures from faculty and staff, to Vice Provost Earl Seaver’s office. McClintock said she hopes to get a clear answer from Seaver as to why the summer ceremony was eliminated.

Seaver said the decision was made with the consultation of faculty members, according to a Feb. 17 Northern Star article.

McClintock alleges some faculty members who signed the petition were unaware of the cancellation.

“In the Northern Star article, Dr. Seaver said the decision had nothing to do with money,” said Varsie Geisler, secretary of the program office for public health and health education programs. “So if it’s just a matter of space and smaller numbers … why not just move summer commencement to a smaller venue, for instance, the ballroom?”

As of press time, Seaver was unaware of the petition, but said NIU tried to address all aspects of the issue when making the decision.

“The decision is made and we’re moving forward,” he said.

Seaver said students who are interested in commencement ceremonies should talk with their adviser or college.

Whatever the outcome of her petition, McClintock said she intends to keep fighting until she can change something.

“The more they [administrators] hear about how upset people are, maybe it will change something,” she said.