The upcoming renovations to Wallace Wade Stadium mean that this year's commencement ceremony will get some local flavor—held at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
Wallace Wade will close for renovations in December and remain out of use until August 2015. As a result, this year's commencement—held in Wallace Wade for the past several years—will be relocated to the Durham Bulls' park downtown. The ceremony is scheduled for the morning of May 10, 2015.
“We’re grateful to [Bulls owner] Jim Goodmon and his team for working with Duke to make it possible to hold commencement at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park,” University Secretary Richard Riddell, whose office is in charge of commencement planning, said in a Duke News release. “It will be a unique commencement, introducing many parents and friends to a revitalized downtown Durham.”
Hosting the ceremony off campus means that the timing and location of many of the diploma ceremonies that traditionally follow the main commencement will have to be changed, Riddell said in an email to graduating seniors Monday.
The park, colloquially known as DBAP, seats 10,000. The Bulls—the triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays—will be on the road for the weekend of commencement, allowing the team and the University to reach an agreement regarding the stadium.
For many students, however, the announcement was less than satisfying. Though the renovations to Wallace Wade have been scheduled for years, the news that graduation would officially be held off campus was met with frustration from some seniors.
"I always thought that my parents would see me graduate in Wallace Wade, and at the very least on Duke's campus," senior Barbara Blachut said. "Renovations have forced us to give up a good part of the Duke that we knew and loved freshman year, and it's unfortunate that it is also going to affect our last day as Duke students."
Wallace Wade has been the location for commencement since 1984, with a variety of other campus spots housing the ceremony in the years prior—including Page Auditorium, the Main Quadrangle and East Campus.
“We worked hard to find a location that would provide our graduates with a memorable experience and we think we have done that,” Terry Chambliss, director of Duke’s Office of Special Events and University Ceremonies, said in the release. “The Bulls stadium will comfortably accommodate our usual number of attendees with plenty of parking and good accessibility.”
The renovations to Wallace Wade include include a new tower that will replace the Finch-Yeager Building on the west side of the stadium, a new LED video board and speaker system to be implemented in the south end zone and plans for new North and West gates that will feature enhanced concourses.
"Attending games at Wallace Wade, including storming the field against [the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill] and Miami, has been integral to my Duke experience," said senior Daniel Kort. "I left the game on Thursday night fully expecting to hear 'Dear Old Duke' echo through the stadium just one more time at commencement, but the unfortunate reality is that our Wallace Wade days are over."
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