This year’s University Commencement on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, will be held on the Morningside campus over two ceremonies: one for the graduate students at 10:30 am and one for the undergraduate students at 5:00 pm. As we get ready to celebrate this year’s graduates, it is only fitting that we look back to another time when the University decided to try a new graduation format. In fact, it was exactly 100 years ago, in 1926, that Columbia started celebrating Commencement as “an out of doors exercise.”

When Columbia first moved to the Morningside Heights campus, Commencement could finally be held on campus. No longer would they need to rent out the Metropolitan Opera House or the Academy of Music. In 1898, the gymnasium had enough room to host the event, but by 1926, the gymnasium “was overcrowded and uncomfortable” with several persons fainting every year. Relatives of candidates had “almost ceased to come any distance to attend these exercises.” It was becoming “increasingly difficult to conduct the exercises with appropriate dignity and dispatch.” The University Ceremonies Committee proposed a new commencement format: a ceremony held outdoors on South Court, as Low Plaza used to be known. 

This proposed format was not entirely new. Columbia had already hosted two major events using South Court. In October 1919, Columbia held a special convocation in honor of Cardinal Desideratus Mercier, the Belgian Prelate. According to the Spectator, South Court served as a “brilliant stage” and a “triumphant setting.” The Columbia Alumni News reported that there was a crowd of over 10,000 guests in attendance on an ideal fall day with sun glistening on the library dome. Even Alma Mater was dressed up for the event: she was surrounded with ferns and waving palms. This first experiment worked.

In November 1921, a similar setup was put in place for another special convocation, this time for Ferdinand Foch, Marshal of France. This time, a crowd of more than 20,000 gathered in front of Low Library. There was even a carpeted aisle (red, perhaps?) from the entrance to the Library (Low) to 116th Street. This was yet another “brilliant out-of-doors ceremony.”

In planning for Commencement in 1926, the University Ceremonies Committee acknowledged that outdoors you would have to contend with the summer heat. Thus, the Committee suggested that the event be held in the evening, at 7:00 pm. They also claimed that a survey of the weather for several years showed that on those days, there was no evening rain (!). Commencement on South Court would require seating, decorations and amplification and, as an evening event, they would also need, in 1920s terms, “illumination” and additional security. But all of this was preferable to continuing to hold Commencement in the gymnasium.

And so, in 1926, Columbia held its first outdoors Commencement ceremony. The academic procession started at 6:15 pm under a slow drizzle. But by 7:00 pm, the rain became such a heavy downpour that it became impossible to proceed. The arrangement, however, was a success. The alumni called the shortened event “one of the most awe-inspiring ceremonies in Columbia history.” Commencement (rain or shine) has been held outdoors on Morningside Heights campus ever since. 

It’s interesting to note that the 1926 Committee anticipated this year’s special arrangement. They had considered that “separate exercises might be held for the various groups of candidates.” At the time, they worried that this “would break up the unity of the Commencement exercises and would run counter to some of the most cherished traditions of the University.” Baker Field, with seating for 32,000 (the original location proposed for the 2026 ceremonies) did not open until 1928. We shall see how this year’s experiment works out.