Although home to a national championship team, Jordan-Hare Stadium will no longer be home to spring, fall or summer commencement.
Practiced this summer, commencement will be in the Auburn Arena--its new permanent location.
Pamela Ulrich, graduation committee co-chair, said graduation in the stadium didn't work out like they thought it would.
"It was a beautiful setup, but it turned out to be hotter on the field than we anticipated that actually it would appear by the temperature," Ulrich said. "We tried it, and the students were actually polled--the immediate past graduates and as were the rising seniors--about whether they would like to try it at the stadium at night or do four ceremonies over two days."
Students were polled through an email sent by the Student Government Association, and 60 percent said they would rather do it over two days, Ulrich said.
"Students gave us feedback and said this is what they wanted," said President Jay Gogue. "It makes sense for a number of reasons, so we were glad to make the change."
Prior to 2010 spring commencement, SGA pleaded to move it to the stadium.
"It was actually the fact that the SGA voted on and advocated the stadium graduation was the reason we did," Ulrich said. "The president approved it, and they wanted one big graduation rather than splintered ones."
The stadium's size allowed for all colleges to be present at once, rather than breaking up graduation over multiple times and days.
Now with graduation in the arena, the schedule is altered to allow an unlimited amount of guests.
"One of Auburn University's policies is to not limit how many people can come per student," Ulrich said. "You can have an audience of two or an audience of 20 per graduate, but that is something we believe is important and we hear from families it is important that we not limit."
At other schools students are given a limited amount of tickets to give to their guests, and anyone without a ticket is not allowed to attend.
Ulrich said Auburn also maintains the tradition of having every graduating student walk across the stage.
"We understand that students value and families value that every student walks across the stage and gets their name announced," Ulrich said.
Aside from being inside and out of the heat, the size of the arena adds an extra comfort level.
"Graduation is about students and their families celebrating an important achievement in their lives," Gogue said. "Auburn Arena offers a comfortable setting for everyone to enjoy commencement."
For more information on graduation including maps, updates and ceremony dates, check the Auburn website at www.auburn.edu/graduation.
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