Commencement by the numbers

Sarah Sweeney

Harvard Staff Writer

May 30, 2013 1 min read

One year of planning and countless man-hours equal this unforgettable day

50,000: The approximate number of chairs rented

8,000: The number of sheets used to outfit the 3,800 beds made for alumni guests staying in the Houses over Commencement weekend. (Eight thousand towels will also be distributed for these guests.)

6,000: The number of linear feet in fencing installed all over campus for this event alone

4,000: The number of tables rented

32,000: The number of people expected at Morning Exercises

300: The approximate number of people — from vendors to laborers — who helped coordinate this year’s event

200: The number of tents erected throughout campus

88: Temperature forecasted

15: Minutes the bells of Cambridge will ring at the completion of Morning Exercises

1: The number of years it will take Commencement Director Grace Scheibner to plan Commencement 2014

0: The number of times rain has forced Morning Exercises inside. (But once, in June 2001, heavy rain forced Afternoon Exercises into Sanders Theatre.)