Georgia State grads struggle to get commencement tickets after technical issues

Graduation day at Georgia State University will be a time for celebration. But in the days leading up to this week’s commencement ceremonies, many students were panicked, concerned that they wouldn’t be able to get tickets for themselves and family members.

The university’s decision to transition to Ticketmaster as its ticketing platform caused confusion for students who say they encountered technical problems and struggled to get in touch with school officials for solutions.

“There were a lot of glitches,” said Jayden Hightower, a public health major. “My mom sent me a screenshot one morning and told me the tickets had completely disappeared from her account, and she didn’t know why.”

Two weeks ago, he received an email from the school’s commencement office advising that they were “aware of a technical issue with the electronic tickets” and that he would receive seven tickets once it was resolved.

Hightower ultimately visited administrators three times to get answers to his commencement questions. He and other students say the school did not offer clear communication about the process.

“I started to get worried when other people started to get their tickets, and I hadn’t,” said Atiyah Kennedy, a graduate student who struggled to get guidance from the school. “It was near impossible to speak to the commencement office itself. There was nobody in the office who was really responding.”

In a statement, GSU apologized for any inconvenience that graduates or their families experienced. “We’re so proud of them all,” said the school, adding that only a fraction of the almost 5,000 graduates experienced any technology issues.

Kennedy, who got her bachelor’s from the school in 2023, agrees that most students had a good experience getting tickets. Even so, for those who struggled, it was a frustrating process.

“For a lot of folks, this is a major accomplishment, something that they might be the first in their family to do, so to be worrying about whether or not you’re able to bring your loved ones to see that, I can definitely imagine is super stressful,” said Kennedy.

That was the experience of Hightower, a first-generation college student from Stone Mountain.

“Barely anyone from my town goes to college. So it’s kind of like I’m doing it for my entire city,” said Hightower, who plans to attend graduate school next year.

Beyond the technical issues, he feels poor and untimely communication made it difficult to obtain extra tickets, leading to “tough conversations” with family.