Dog House Grill will open its doors early on Commencement Saturday once again, bringing back an annual graduation tradition that provided a place for graduates to unite before they embarked on the next chapter of their lives.
The restaurant will open at 6 a.m. on the May 16 commencement at Save Mart Center, manager Matt Billingsley said.
“We have drink specials, mimosas, breakfast, and in all honesty, it’s like a family setting,” he said.
Similar traditions have been embraced in other college cities like San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara. But Fresno State took issue in the past, alleging students were participating in the commencement while intoxicated.
In 2013, former vice president of student affairs, Dr. Paul Oliaro, wrote a letter asking Dog House Grill not to open early the day of commencement to “ensure that [the graduation] is a safe and dignified event for the students and parents who will be celebrating this moment.”
“Nobody left here over-served or out of control,” Billingsley said. “So, I don’t disagree with him. I just didn’t see exactly what he was talking about.”
Dayana Contreras, a mass communication and journalism major graduating this semester, doesn’t think all the responsibility lies with the restaurant.
“I think as a college student we should know better than to show up drunk at graduation,” Contreras said. “I don’t think that necessarily Dog House is the one to blame for the result of intoxicated students. I do however think the university has the right to excuse students if their behavior is distracting their graduation.”
In 2014, the restaurant decided to bring back the tradition and open early. This year, Dog House Grill is expecting 1,200 customers, primarily graduates and their friends and families, during its early hours — 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. — on Friday and Saturday.
Miguel Vera, a psychology major, said students should be held accountable for their decisions.
“After years of hard work, everybody has the right to celebrate however they please, just as long as they don’t ruin the ceremony,” Vera said.
The intention of the event, Billingsley said, is to give students one last chance to get together.
“For the most part, students are excited about the next chapter of their life. This is the final block of moving forward and actually having to become an adult,” Billingsley said. “We, as a restaurant, look at it as a reward for the students.”
chowchillagal • May 19, 2015 at 7:28 am
A great many students left the Doghouse Grill overserved and out of control this year. Police at the graduation ceremony documented students that claimed that they had been served five or more mimosas at the Doghouse Grill. This did not contribute to a safe and dignified event for the students or their families. The Doghouse Grill may not be entirely responsible for the plethora of intoxicated students – but they certainly contributed. Sadly, it was the campus police that had to perform an unprecedented amount of damage control this year. if this tradition continues – I would invite the Owner of the Doghouse Grill to attend the event and experience the direct results of our students attending their “family setting”tradition.