University of Oregon Commencement Back on Schedule

The 2010 graduation-day scheduling conflict at Oregon's flagship university has finally been resolved.

The University of Oregon's commencement will be held on its originally planned day, the Daily Emerald reports. The ceremony will take place on Saturday, June 12, 2010.

A planning and scheduling committee at the school worried that commencement would conflict with the NCAA track and field championships, which will be held at the university's Hayward Field June 9-12. The committee had concerns about hotel availability, and the school moved the graduation date up to accommodate both events, which some critics said interfered with Oregon's finals week.

A University of Oregon biology professor, Nathan Tublitz, wrote a commentary in the Eugene (Ore.) Register-Guard that questioned former university president Dave Frohnmayer's commitment to academics.

"This decision to prioritize athletics over academics, inconveniencing thousands of students and their parents, might have been excusable were it not the latest in a long line of similar decisions," Tublitz wrote, citing as examples Frohnmayer's planning of several sporting events around critical parts of the school's academic calendar.

Frohnmayer responded with his own commentary in the Register-Guard, explaining the reasons behind his decision to host the sporting event.

"This is not just any track meet," he wrote, "but the NCAA National Championships—an event that will pump millions of dollars into the local economy and is part and parcel of the rich track and field heritage of the UO."

This year's track and field championships had fewer attendees, and the NCAA is considering a change in the championships schedule by eliminating qualifying rounds in 2010. University Provost Jim Bean says that should be enough to dispel concerns about hotel availability.