How to prepare for the start of 2024

This year, 4,783 graduates will turn their tassels at the University of Oregon’s commencement ceremonies.

Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s celebration of the Class of 2024.

Main commencement ceremony

The 146th university-wide commencement ceremony will take place on Monday, June 17 at 9 a.m. in Autzen Stadium.

The main ceremony is preceded by the annual Grand Entrance, where graduates will gather at Moshofsky Plaza at 7:30 AM and walk through the West Tunnel onto Auzten Field at 8:15 AM.

Graduates do not take the stage to receive diplomas. Instead, there will be a conferring of degrees, with announcers recognizing each school or college and asking graduates to stand when their group is called.

Guest tickets are not required, but graduates must register.

Autzen Stadium and Matthew Knight Arena have a clear bag policy. Participants are limited to one clear bag per person, along with a small purse or purse for privacy or medical needs. Large handbags or backpacks are not permitted.

There will be a lot of traffic before the main ceremony. Visitors are advised to arrive early. The stadium parking lot opens at 6:30 AM. There will be no public parking on the UO campus on Monday.

After the main ceremony, free shuttle buses will transport participants from Autzen Stadium to the main campus, where they will make four stops: Matthew Knight Arena, Global Scholars Hall, Frohnmayer Music Building and the Knight Library, before returning to Autzen. The shuttles run continuously until 7:00 PM

Commencement keynote speaker: Sarah Mensah

Sarah Mensah is the first Black woman to lead Nike, Inc.’s Jordan brand. The UO alum graduated in 1987 with degrees in journalism and telecommunications and film.

Mensah worked in TV news for a while after graduating, but moved to corporate sales manager for the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1990s. She has been with Nike since 2013 and was promoted to president of the Jordan Brand in 2023.

At Nike, Mensah was the first Black woman to hold the role of general manager of geography and the first to serve as vice president at Nike North America, according to a UO news release.

Who are the Class of 2024?

This year’s Ducks graduates earned 3,647 bachelor’s degrees, 836 master’s degrees, 182 doctoral degrees and 164 law degrees.

The top 10 most popular bachelor’s programs were:

• Business management

• Journalism

• Psychology

• General Social Sciences

• Human physiology

• Political Sciences

• Art

• Economy

• Sociology

• Bookkeeping

Ceremony schedule

UO will hold a total of 40 commencement ceremonies for various schools and colleges. A full list and additional details can be found at commence.uoregon.edu/ceremonies.

Here is the current ceremony schedule:

Friday June 14

• Lundquist College of Business PhD, MACc and Doctors Without Borders: 5 p.m

• Black Graduation Celebration: 6 p.m

Saturday June 15

• Lavender Graduation Celebration: 11am

• Non-Traditional and Military-Connected Graduation Celebration: 3:00 PM

• Lundquist College of Business MBA Commencement Ceremony: 5 p.m

Sunday June 16

• Comparative Literature – College of Arts and Sciences: 10:00 am

• Conflict and Dispute Resolution Program: 10:00 AM

• Philosophy: 10am

• Psychology: 10am

• School of Global Studies & Languages: 10am

• Sociology: 10am

• Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies: 10am

• Black Studies, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Indigenous Race and Ethnic Studies, and Latinx Studies: 1 p.m.

• Classics, Humanities, Middle Ages and Religious Studies: 1 p.m

• College for Design: 1 p.m

• Environmental Studies: 1 p.m

• Mathematics: 1 p.m

• Multidisciplinary Science & Neuroscience: 1 p.m

• Political Science: 1 p.m

• Clark Honors College: 2 p.m

• Chemistry and Biochemistry: 4:00 PM

• Earth Sciences: 4 p.m

• English and folklore: 4 p.m

• Geography and Anthropology: 4 p.m

• Human Physiology: 4:00 PM

• Theater Arts: 4 p.m

Monday June 17

• University Commencement Ceremony: 9:00 AM

• Biology: 1 p.m

• Film Studies: 1 p.m

• Education lecture: 1 p.m

• General Social Sciences: 1 p.m

• Linguistics: 1 p.m

• Lundquist College of Business Undergraduate: 1 p.m

• School of Music and Dance: 1 p.m

• Computer Science & Data Science: 4:00 PM

• Economics Commencement Ceremony – CAS: 4:00 PM

• History commencement ceremony: 4:00 PM

• Physics: 4 p.m

• School of Journalism and Communication: 4 p.m

For more information about UO Commencement, visit commencement.uoregon.edu.

Miranda Cyr covers education for The Register-Guard. You can contact her at mcyr@registerguard.com or find her on Twitter @mirandabcyr.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: University of Oregon Class of 2024: How to prepare for graduate