On Jan. 7, 2025, Portland State University (PSU) confirmed via Instagram that there would be no graduation ceremonies held at the Moda Center this year, and that all ceremonies will be held on-campus at the Viking Pavilion for the first time. Each school and college will now have their own dedicated commencement ceremony—with those sporting larger cohorts having multiple. This culminates in 10 total ceremonies, in contrast to last year’s four.
The School of Business and College of the Arts both had their graduation ceremonies at the Viking Pavillion last year. Talks of utilizing on-campus facilities for graduation began back in 2015, during a Faculty Senate meeting, which established an eventual phasing out of the Moda Center as a venue.
Nora Quiros—PSU’s Director of Events—spoke with PSU Vanguard to clarify the reasoning behind these decisions.
One reason for the change is, “Holding ceremonies on campus and connecting students to where they completed their academic journey while highlighting our beautiful campus to their guests,” Quiros stated.
She also mentioned how having multiple dedicated ceremonies will allow for more students and keynote speakers that relate specifically to each respective discipline.
Quiros also shared some of the logistical reasoning behind the switch, adding that keeping all ceremonies in one location will reduce travel back and forth between campus and the Moda Center for faculty and staff. She also predicts this decision will resort in shorter ceremonies overall.
It was also clarified why this change comes now, as opposed to previous commencement seasons.
“I believe 2023 marked the final year of graduates returning to participate in commencement ceremonies who had not been able to during the pandemic,” Quiros said. “While the capacity at Moda was necessary, the ceremonies were also three or four hours long. Last year at Moda, our graduates and guests filled about 50% capacity for our morning ceremony and just under 40% capacity for our afternoon ceremony. With this in mind, a smaller and more intimate venue better matches our needs.”
It’s currently unclear whether Viking Pavilion will continue to be the sole home of PSU graduation for future seasons.
“We’ll gather input from faculty and staff, and importantly, we’ll survey graduates to hear directly about their commencement experience,” Quiros said.
