UPDATE: May 2010 undergraduate commencement to be held in Kelly/Shorts Stadium

May 2010 commencement has been moved to Kelly/Shorts Stadium because of renovations and construction taking place at Rose Arena.

An e-mail from University Communications was sent to graduating students about the changes today.

The first ceremony will be held at 4 p.m. on May 7 in Warriner Hall’s Plachta Auditorium for the doctoral students. The second ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. at Kelly/Shorts Stadium for graduate and undergraduate students.

The usual location for commencement, Rose Arena, will not be available because of the renovations to the arena. The $21.5 million renovations began with the groundbreaking Sept. 26.

“The planning and logistics for the May 2010 commencement is still at its very, very early stages,” said Steve Smith, director of public relations.

There are still ideas being worked through about how to make graduations better for May 2010 in case it does rain, Smith said.

“People would be able to bring umbrellas into the stadium with them, which they cannot do for football games,” he said.

Smith said there will be approximately 3,700 graduate and undergraduate students expected for commencement in May 2010.

“It is important to know tickets will not be required for the May 2010 graduation ceremony,” Smith said. “I would anticipate a larger crowd than usual because there are no limits on the number of family members or friends that would be able to participate.”

Smith said Kelly/Shorts Stadium held its last commencement in May 1991. He said there were a number of commencements held there in the 1980s.

“The stadium holds over 30,000 people,” said director of university recreation services Stan Shingles.

Kelly/Shorts Stadium can seat 30, 295.

Shingles said Rose Arena holds about 5,200.

“(They) had to take out one end of the arena for the stage, it probably holds 4,500 (people),” Shingles said.

The first ceremony held in the Rose Arena after the renovations and construction are done will be December 2010, Smith said.

Check cm-life.com for more updates.