Members of University of Wisconsin-Madison’s class of 2014 will celebrate their undergraduate experiences differently than their predecessors, in one joint ceremony held at Camp Randall Stadium, university officials announced Wednesday morning.
According to a press release, a partnership between Chancellor Rebecca Blank and this year’s senior class officers brought about the modifications to the commencement ceremony. In previous years, graduates bid farewell to their undergraduate academics in one of four ceremonies determined by their respective school or college of study, held in the Kohl Center over the course of one weekend.
However, at 12 p.m. May 17, roughly 6,000 graduating students and approximately 40,000 friends and families will fill Camp Randall for an all-encompassing ceremony to cut down on the amount of time the events took in the Kohl Center, according to the release.
“Sitting alongside your entire graduating class will be a really powerful experience,” Senior Class President Joe Meeker said in the release. "Regardless of your major, school or college, commencement is an opportunity to think about the time we've shared with all our fellow Badgers."
Associated Students of Madison Chair David Gardner said in a press release Wednesday the Camp Randall ceremony will be held in addition to independent commencement services the smaller schools and colleges will perform.
UW-Madison senior Stacy Severson said the decision means she will not attend the commencement at Camp Randall, especially considering there will be a separate ceremony for her program as well.
“I think it’s kind of a waste of time and money to have one giant one when you’re going to have to go to one for your own school anyways,” she said. “This is money that could be used toward other programs, we don’t need more speakers to tell us to pursue our dreams.”
Vice Provost for Student Life and Dean of Students Lori Berquam said in the release certain details have yet to be worked out, such as if the university will make changes to graduate program ceremonies, historically held the Friday evening of commencement weekend. Also, the university has yet to identify a commencement speaker.
