University of Oregon moves graduation indoors as heat soars to 155 degrees
Autzen Stadium reached 155 degrees under turf cover, and 5,513 University of Oregon graduates were moved indoors with hours to spare.
Heat inside Autzen Stadium climbed to 155 degrees by midafternoon, forcing the University of Oregon to scrap its planned commencement setup and move graduation ceremonies indoors. A UO Alert sent at 3:07 p.m. on June 15 said all Autzen Stadium graduation ceremonies were being rescheduled and relocated because of the heat.
The change upended the 149th commencement ceremony the university had scheduled for Monday, June 15, at 9 a.m. at Autzen Stadium. University materials said 5,513 graduates were part of this year’s commencement, with gates set to open at 7 a.m. and the event described as one that would go on rain or shine. Instead, the university later said the remaining College of Arts and Sciences ceremonies would be combined and held at Matthew Knight Arena at 7:30 p.m., shifting graduates and families from an outdoor stadium plan to an indoor evening crowd.
For families who had spent the day making their way to Autzen, the change meant altered schedules, indoor crowding and a ceremony that no longer matched the one they had been preparing for. The switch also turned a campus celebration into a logistics test, with thousands of graduates and guests needing a new location, new timing and a new seating arrangement in the middle of the same day.
University of Oregon spokesperson Angela Seydel said the turf covering caused the extreme heat on the field, and temperatures reached 155 degrees by midafternoon. Eugene hit 98 degrees on June 15 at the National Weather Service station at Eugene Airport, after the city set a new daily record of 96 degrees on June 14. The heat was severe enough that Lookout Eugene-Springfield reported a dean fainted during a commencement ceremony and was taken away for medical care, underscoring how quickly the celebration had become a health emergency.
The disruption drew an apology from University of Oregon President Karl Scholz on June 18, when he addressed the commencement problems and said the university would improve future planning. For a university that anchors so many major public events in Eugene and Lane County, the abrupt move indoors was more than an inconvenience. It showed how extreme early-summer heat is beginning to force harder choices about access, safety and readiness at large outdoor ceremonies.
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