After years of classes, papers, labs and exams, 986 University students are getting ready for the big day.
Summer Commencement will take place Saturday at 10 a.m. on the Memorial Quad, which spans from the Knight Library to East 13th Avenue. Free and open to the public, commencement does not require tickets. Any student wishing to participate in the ceremony can, although their names won’t appear in the program if they did not apply to graduate in time. Students not listed in the program will still be able to walk to the platform and receive diploma covers. The Office of Student Life said there are students who graduate in fall or winter who are allowed to walk in the summer ceremony, and those students’ names will appear in the Spring Commencement program.
University spokeswoman Pauline Austin wrote in an e-mail, “As a general rule, the UO does not allow students who have not completed all the necessary credits to walk in a graduation ceremony.”
In the event of rain, commencement will be held in McArthur Court, the University’s basketball arena on University Street between East 15th and 18th avenues.
The Commencement Speaker will be Margaret Paris, dean of the School of Law and recipient of its highest teaching honor in 1996: The Orlando John Hollis Faculty Teaching Award.
Paris’s 10-minute speech, “How you will change the world,” will center around the pride she feels toward the University’s newest group of alumni.
“It is about what I see as great potential of this graduating generation,” she said, “to fix what I see wrong as a world problem – the lack of capacity, in terms of human relationships to do what has to be done, like fixing global warming, resolving hunger, that kind of thing.”
Additional speakers, who will greet and congratulate the graduates, include University President Dave Frohnmayer and award recipients, as well as University Senior Vice President and Provost Linda Brady and Alumni Association President Ron Farmer.
Graduates will earn their degrees by department, with each individual graduate having his or her name called while walking across the stage, shaking hands with President Frohnmayer and receiving diploma covers from Brady. Actual diplomas are mailed.
The ceremony was largely put together by Amber Garrison, director of family programs and commencement. Garrison, who is in her second year as director, likes playing a role in what is such an important event in so many people’s lives.
“I really enjoy watching all the graduates and their families,” she said. “It’s exciting to be a part of and I feel privileged to be involved.”
Parking is available on nearby streets and in University parking lots, the closest of which is on Kincaid Street between East 13th and 14th avenues.
Seating for guests with disabilities and interpreters will also be available. During the ceremony, a special section will be designated for family photographers.
The commencement ceremony is scheduled to wrap up at 11:30 a.m., with a reception immediately to follow at the north end of the seating area.
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