Commencement may take place at Memorial Stadium next year during the State Farm Center reconstruction, which is pending approval by the Board of Trustees.
Campus spokeswoman Robin Kaler said the State Farm Center’s reconstruction schedule will be determined sometime after the Board of Trustees meeting May 29. The Boardhas not yet determined where to allocate the $60 million from the naming rights, which may be used to pay for a portion of the reconstruction.
“The agreement with State Farm still must be approved by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees,” she said. “It is too early to determine whether 2014 Commencement will be held in State Farm Center or somewhere else.”
The University has deemed Memorial Stadium as the best alternative to holding Commencement in State Farm Center during construction.
Babette Hiles, director of Special Events in the Office of the Chancellor, said if approved, next year’s Commencement schedule would be a little different than before.
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“Currently we have two campus-wide Commencement ceremonies held at the State Farm Center because not everyone could get inside,” Hiles said. “But moving it to the Memorial Stadium, we would be able to plan only one ceremony and everyone will participate in that ceremony.”
Hiles said changing the location also changes the schedule of the 2014 graduation weekend, and Office of the Chancellor staff have already begun planning for next year.
“It will also be moving from Sunday to Saturday,” she said. “It will be the first ceremony for the Commencement weekend and the remainder of Saturday and all day Sunday will be the convocation ceremonies.”
She said the seating arrangements for the event will be prepared until next year.
“From now, it will be just working on arrangements for where we have our faculty lined up for the processions, where we have our doctoral candidates (and) where the stage is located,” Hiles said. “All that’s left is the planning on behind the scenes.”
Clay Matheny, junior in LAS, said he expects holding commencement in a college football stadium to feel different than it would in State Farm Center.
“I think it’s a pretty smart idea to hold (commencement) at the Memorial Stadium,” he said.
Matheny said he is somewhat concerned about the Memorial Stadium’s lack of air conditioning for his upcoming commencement.
“I can see a lot of people complaining about the heat,” he said. “It kind of depends on the weather; I think that could play a factor on how it goes.”
But Hiles said holding the commencement ceremony on a Saturday morning might not be as warm as people might think.
“By having the ceremony in the morning, the heat won’t be too much,” she said. “It’s cool rather, so it might not even be an issue then.”
If approved, commencement will be held at Memorial Stadium until 2016 while State Farm Center’s reconstruction is completed.
Carina can be reached at [email protected].
