The debate over whether Radford University should change walking as a collective graduating class or graduating with each respective major is raging on at Radford University. Students have suggested that the University should change its ruling back to what it used to be in previous years when Radford Graduates used to be able to walk with their fellow major departments classmates rather than by fellow graduates by last name at the University.

Students want to be named and recognized by what they worked so hard to do in the first place, which was to graduate with their major group class and with their respective departments. These separate and distinct departments at Radford University include The College of Science and Technology, The College of Business and Economics, Education and Human Development, Health and Human Services, Humanities and Behavioral Sciences, Visual and Performing Arts, and the Graduate & Research are all distinct but integral part of how the university functions as a whole.

This is debate started in the last three months when the University sent out an email/notification saying that the University has decided to change its graduation ceremonial policy to include graduating student walking in alphabetical order respectively. Many students immediately became outraged over this and decided to protest through different social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter over the notion that students would no longer be graduating with their respective majors and department. This controversy is still raging on two months later. Here are a few reasons why.

The first is that many seniors have felt for years that they have been working diligently to graduate in their major. Students tend to work only with those in their major over a majority of their classes and throughout their entire 4+ years at Radford University. Nursing majors in the college of Health and Human Services are very proud of their distinction as Nursing majors. They feel as though their accomplishments would be overshadowed by not recognizing what they worked so hard for to obtain. That is a B.A. in Nursing at one of the best Nursing schools in the state of Virginia and in the country. Being treated with this distinction is very important to them and they want to be recognized for the tremendous achievement of graduating with a Nursing Bachelors Degree at Radford University.

The second reason is for prospective job offers. Students want to be recognized for what their degree is in because they want to be able to show future job prospects what their degree is in on graduation day. They want to be recognized and celebrated with their fellow peers. Future employers aren't as interested in the fact that one graduates from the university with a bachelors degree.

What really matters is what your degree is in. Employers are interested in what skills a college graduate can carry over into the "real world" aka the prospective job market. It would be better for employers to understand where a student has their degree in. This would be better obtained by having the commencement ceremony with each respective department and major rather than straight alphabetically.

The third and final reason is that the college graduation ceremony is something that most students and young people will never forget. Why not make the event more memorable then to graduate with some of our best friends and closest cohorts here at Radford U. I personally think the school should consider changing the "walk" at graduation back to the tradition way of conducting graduation which would be to let students graduate with their respective department and major.

It would only make sense to let the students walk up with students they have been closest with since their initial days at the university. Everyone wants to make college graduation one of the most special moments of their lives. So why not enhance this by letting students be celebrated for their specific achievements with the people who mean the most to them?

I know I would and will want to graduate with my closest friends and cohorts on the main stage on Moffett Quad. Past years of graduates have gotten to experience this. Why not let this graduating class of 2018 do the same?