Oregon State University will hold its first in-person commencement ceremony since 2019 this weekend.
The university says 7,318 students will graduate. That’s just six graduates shy of the school's all-time record set last year. OSU said nearly 18% of the graduates will be the first person in their family to earn a college degree.
The ceremony is set for 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Reser Stadium, which will look a lot different than it did the last time it hosted such an event, since the west grandstands were imploded in January as part of a multi-year renovation project.
The commencement address will be given by Portland Trail Blazers broadcaster and OSU alumnus Lamar Hurd. OSU says the ceremony will be held rain or shine and is open to the public. It will also be live-streamed on the OSU website.
It’s part of a busy weekend in Corvallis, as the OSU baseball team will play both Saturday and Sunday evening as part of the NCAA Super-regionals, with a spot in the College Baseball World Series on the line.
Meanwhile, Oregon State University’s Cascades campus in Bend will hold its first ever on-campus commencement ceremony on Sunday. The campus opened in 2016, but the school says the grounds lacked an adequate space to hold a large ceremony until recently. The OSU-Cascades graduating class includes 290 students. The event is open only to ticketed guests.