08/20/2008

Associated Press

Graduates of Oregon State University will walk out into the real world one day earlier starting next June.

The university is moving its graduation ceremony from Sunday afternoon to Saturday morning to address the concerns of students and their families, Kavinda Arthenayake, chairman of OSU's commencement committee, told the Gazette-Times newspaper.

Graduation day has been on a Sunday afternoon every year since 1962, but students and campus groups told ceremony organizers that the Sunday event traps students in Corvallis for the whole weekend, presenting a hardship for those with travel or job commitments. The Sunday event also often conflicted with Father's Day.

The Saturday ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. in an effort to keep those in cap-and-gown a little cooler as they sit in the sun on metal bleachers.

This is the second major change to the commencement scheduling since OSU began distributing diplomas in 1870.

Larry Landis, university archivist, said commencement used to be a three- or four-day event. It included class reunions and a religious ceremony called a baccalaureate service on Sunday. The official commencement was held Monday.

The university dropped the baccalaureate event in 1962 and moved the graduation ceremony back to Sunday, where it has remained.

The graduation ceremonies date back to when OSU was known as Oregon Agricultural College. It was not held on campus until 1889, in what is now Benton Hall.

After switching locations throughout the years, the graduation ceremony moved to Reser Stadium in 2001.

The move to Saturday has created a hassle for campus groups that typically hold their own Saturday ceremonies.

"There are many mini-ceremonies that take place, and they're going to have to rearrange their ceremonies," said Arthenayake, who met with representatives of those groups Tuesday.

Arthenayake said he believes many of those small Saturday ceremonies started when commencement was held in Gill Coliseum, and students were limited to inviting four friends and family members to the ceremony.

The smaller departmental or program events enabled students to invite larger groups to the celebration.