UVM has proposed moving Commencement to the Champlain Valley Exposition beginning in 2025, said Kelly O’Malley, senior coordinator of presidential events and protocol.
The new plan, announced at an Oct. 8 SGA meeting by O’Malley, includes holding on-campus events the Friday of Commencement Weekend, whereas commencement ceremonies for the individual colleges will be held at the Champlain Valley Expo on Saturday and Sunday, she said.
There will not be a main ceremony, she said.
“The national trend is that institutions are making or considering major changes to their commencement ceremonies,” she said. “Many institutions are moving outdoor ceremonies to indoor venues whenever they can because of weather, health or other safety concerns.”
At the meeting, O’Malley said they have been looking for ways to provide more uniformity to the weekend as there has been significant variation among the experiences of graduating students and their families during each college’s graduation ceremonies.
“Some ceremonies are on campus, some are not,” she said. “Some are outside, some are inside. A few are air-conditioned, most are not. Some are ticketed, some aren’t.”
O’Malley said the University is looking to make their commencement ceremonies more accessible, a goal that is difficult to accomplish across many different venues.
“We’re also very behind on national trends regarding adopting technology to make our commencement experience efficient, professional and personal to our graduates,” O’Malley said.
O’Malley said she has been concerned about the prospect of Commencement being canceled due to severe weather the past few years.
“After looking at the weather this summer […] I’m really nervous,” she said. “I have been in the middle of something being taken away from students, and it’s not okay. We just can do better.”
In the event of severe weather, Commencement would be moved indoors and be livestreamed with only a small audience present in person, O’Malley said.
“I think that there will be people who are disappointed in this, but it’s a really difficult event to plan,” she said. “And then it might not just happen if there’s severe weather, we don’t have a backup for it.”
Another problem with the previous Commencement model was attendance, O’Malley said. Excluding 2024, the main event was poorly attended for the two years prior, she said.
“It’s sort of abysmal,” she said. “We sit 8,000 seats and we have maybe 4,000 people there for two years.”
The University sent out a survey to 3,400 students who graduated in 2024, as well as their parents and faculty and staff in order to assess the most important parts of Commencement for each group. Only about 800 completed the survey, she said.
The most important aspects as reported by both families and students were hearing the student’s name called, having them cross the stage and celebrating with friends and family and celebrating with their college or school.
Faculty and staff shared these sentiments, according to O’Malley’s presentation.
The two indoor event spaces at the Expo, which is in Essex Junction, Vt., hold about 3,800 people each and have dedicated restrooms, water fountains and concessions, O’Malley said.
UVM’s two biggest spaces, Patrick Gym and Gutterson Field House, can only hold 3,200 and 2,400 people, respectively, she said.
“None of the campus ceremony venues are air-conditioned,” O’Malley said. “There are real health and safety concerns to consider with some of these locations due to heat.”
There will be no main commencement speaker going forward, but individual colleges will have speakers at their respective ceremonies, O’Malley said.
“No one missed it last year,” O’Malley said. “Absolutely zero feedback about it.”
The College of Arts and Sciences, UVM’s largest college, will have three separate graduations, O’Malley said.
“They will be uniform and will be, essentially, a replicated ceremony,” she said. “The people who would be speaking will be at all three.”
Both of the Expo’s event spaces are fully air-conditioned, O’Malley said. The Expo is all on one level, wheelchair accessible and the stages will be equipped with ramps, she said.
The University will host several on-campus events on the Friday before, such as a campus open house, a food truck festival and a parade that concludes with a Convocation-like event called “Twilight on the University Green,” O’Malley said.
UVM’s president will be present at every ceremony this year, O’Malley said. The ceremonies will be capped at an hour and a half in length, and every ceremony will be ticketed, with six tickets available per student, she said.
Senior McKenna Halvorson, an SGA senator, said she thought the new commencement plans sounded amazing as a prospective graduate.
“The plan sounds really thought through and sounds like a great opportunity for students to have a great commencement ceremony,” she said.
SGA Treasurer and senior Matt Sorensen, said he was looking forward to a whole-class commencement.
“I have friends who are not all in the same college, and so part of why commencements are really special is you are all together as a class,” he said. “I think it’s a really important experience that is not happening anymore.”
O’Malley said she recognized Sorensen’s concerns and that the “Twilight on the University Green” event was designed to provide a sense of class togetherness on Commencement Weekend.
Sorenson said he felt University Green, where Commencement is typically held, is significant to students being that it is on campus and is surrounded by iconic buildings like Waterman and Old Mill.
“This new location is not a place people have ties to,” Sorenson said. “Your last moment at UVM on campus, that being at the Champlain Valley Expo, feels weird to me.”
O’Malley said her office realizes how important Commencement is for students, families, faculty and staff, and is taking those perspectives into planning for the new model.
“This isn’t done yet,” O’Malley said. “We have to move fast because we need to plan and we need to give families and students time to plan. If you’re feeling really strongly about something, please reach out to me.”
