UPDATE (May 5, 2017 6:13 p.m.): CSUB will hold two commencement ceremonies on May 19 for undergraduates at the Main Soccer Field on campus.
No tickets will be necessary for either ceremony.
Guests who prefer indoor seating may view the ceremony on a large video board in the Icardo Center.
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As the class of 2017 prepares to cross the stage at Cal State Bakersfield, many graduates are concerned about who will witness their big day.
On May 19th Karen Lopez will join many others as they receive their diploma from CSUB.
Graduation is very important to Lopez because she is the first generation to obtain a degree from college in her family.
"It really did take my entire family's support and pushing me and now it's just changing right at the last minute," Lopez said.
Lopez said the University originally told her and her classmates that they didn't need any tickets for this year's commencement. Meaning, anyone was welcome to attend.
"The University actually sent us an email saying that due to an unprecedented amount of people graduating this year and unprecedented amount of people attending the graduation they now have to go back on their word," Lopez said.
Now the University is only allowing five tickets per graduating student. Other guests will have to file into the ICardio Center and watch on a projector.
The news didn't sit well with the class of 2017. Many taking to Facebook to express their disappointments.
University officials said 17,000 guests have RSVP'd for this graduation. That's not including the faculty, staff or students who are graduating. CSUB simply did not expect that many guests.
The Universitu is working hard to find a solution.
