Colorado State University has announced plans to transition to a brand-new commencement format beginning in 2025. The university announced that it will begin hosting one universitywide commencement ceremony in Canvas Stadium each year.
Commencement acts as a way for graduating students to gather and celebrate their graduation together as a class. Whether students are graduating soon or recently graduated, the event can be a way for a class to come together one more time before they start a new chapter.
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“CSU’s move away from college-based commencements and toward an annual universitywide commencement aligns CSU with other major four-year colleges, and having one commencement ceremony allows students to have a shared experience with their fellow Rams and establishes an exciting new tradition at CSU,” said Kelly Liggett, CSU’s managing director of strategic planning and lead project manager for commencement 2025.
“I think CSU’s new plan for the commencement ceremony is exciting because it allows students to come together and celebrate each other’s different accomplishments within different fields. It allows people to build better connections and celebrate each other.” –Jude Chikh Ali, CSU student
The decision was made to enhance the graduation experience for students, staff and their families. The university aims to foster a more inclusive and memorable experience with this change.
“Hosting commencement that welcomes the entire campus to celebrate our graduates is such an exciting opportunity to go all out for our grads,” Liggett said. “A full-campus commencement will give graduates a grand entrance, welcome an inspirational speaker, bring together staff to volunteer and celebrate our students and create excitement and energy across the campus for graduation.”
CSU students who will be graduating with the new format are looking forward to the changes, as they will get a chance to better connect with their peers.
“I think CSU’s new plan for the commencement ceremony is exciting because it allows students to come together and celebrate each other’s different accomplishments within different fields,” student Jude Chikh Ali said. “It allows people to build better connections and celebrate each other.”
Although the new commencement format will not be implemented until spring 2025, it has been in the making for many years.
“The conversation of moving to a universitywide commencement has been happening for years, especially since CSU opened Canvas Stadium and had a location on campus which would allow CSU graduates and their guests to celebrate this life milestone all together,” Liggett said.
As part of the new plans, different colleges will no longer host their own individual ceremonies. However, departments will have the ability to host their own events to recognize students and their accomplishments in a more personalized manner.
“The university is committed to working with departments to honor their students in meaningful events that complement the universitywide commencement,” Liggett said. “All students will have their names read and the opportunity to be individually recognized. Departments and colleges may also offer personalized components to fit the needs of and personality of their own students.”
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Students have also expressed their excitement to celebrate with their friends and families at another ceremony outside of their individual colleges and departments.
“I think the new plans for commencement ceremonies are great, especially since most of my friends aren’t in my same college,” student Mia Turnbull said. “I think it will impact me and most of the people I know positively.”
There will be no changes to the 2024 commencement ceremonies in the spring or fall — though those graduating in the fall will have the opportunity to switch to the spring 2025 commencement — so the university is using this year’s ceremonies to gather feedback and evaluate what details need to be added to the new commencement plans.
CSU encourages students and staff to provide their personal feedback on the new commencement plans through ASCSU.
“CSU is committed to elevating commencement at CSU and welcomes thoughts and ideas from the entire campus throughout this process,” Liggett said. “ASCSU has expressed their support for this shift. We are actively working with ASCSU to represent the student viewpoint. We encourage students to provide input directly to their ASCSU representatives.”
Students and staff can submit questions and comments on the spring 2025 commencement webpage. Updates and further details will be available there as well.
Reach Laila Shekarchian at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @CSUCollegian.
Ali • Jan 4, 2025 at 11:58 am
After investing a staggering $100,000 in our daughter’s education at this institution, I am absolutely outraged to learn that she will not be given the chance to experience a traditional, one-commencement ceremony. This is unbelievably upsetting and, frankly, it’s just wrong. As a parent who has supported this university—both emotionally and financially—I cannot express enough how deeply disappointed I am that there was no consultation with us, the very stakeholders funding your institution’s operation, about this drastic change. We deserved a voice in this decision, and you chose to silence us.
My daughter has poured her heart and soul into her degree, sacrificing time, energy, and countless sleepless nights to reach this milestone. She deserves to walk across that stage with her peers, to be celebrated for her perseverance, and to feel the incredible energy of that collective achievement. You cannot replicate the once-in-a-lifetime feeling of being surrounded by thousands of others who have earned the same recognition, and you cannot replace that moment with a departmental ceremony. That’s not what she worked for—that’s not what any of them worked for.
Do you really understand what you’re taking away from these students? Have you even stopped to consider what it feels like to be robbed of this pivotal experience? If you haven’t had the privilege of walking across that stage, of hearing your name called out before an entire class of graduates, then you cannot truly grasp what that day means. It’s not just a ceremony; it’s an affirmation of everything they’ve worked for. You’re denying them that.
The spin you’re putting on this, claiming that a smaller, more “intimate” experience is somehow better, is insulting. These students deserve more than that. They deserve the recognition of their entire university community, the validation that comes from walking across that stage with the entire class. No department ceremony will ever come close to recreating that energy, that pride, that sense of accomplishment.
I have been through this myself as a college graduate, and I know exactly what I want for my daughter. I want her to have that moment—the same moment that countless other students have had before her. I want her to look around and see not just her friends, but a sea of faces that represents the magnitude of what she has achieved. You’ve taken that away from her, and it’s utterly heartbreaking.
And let’s not forget—this generation, these COVID kids, have already had their graduation experience stolen from them once. They deserve to have the ceremony they earned. This was the year to make things right. How could you fail to consider that?
I cannot begin to describe how deeply disillusioned I am with CSU right now. You’ve failed these students. You’ve failed us as parents. And you’ve robbed a generation of young adults of one of the most important moments of their lives. You should be ashamed.
Z • Jan 21, 2025 at 4:37 pm
Who should be ashamed? The student reporters ?
As a parent I don’t want to sit through 7000 degrees. As a graduate, I didn’t want to either
Everyone is still individually recognized and I bet this is changing due to feedback from parents and students….