UWO celebrates commencement

Row by row, graduates filed into black folding chairs in the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Kolf Sports Center on Saturday to the sounds of Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance.

About 1,500 UWO graduates, clad in black caps and gowns, celebrated commencement between two ceremonies at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. 

But just four days before, a team of about 20 custodian and maintenance workers had entered the field house, which was empty except for a black tarp spread across the basketball court.

Row by row, a team of seven people moved from the south to the north end of the field house as they set out the black folding chairs. Following them was a team of four, who moved the chairs millimeters at a time to ensure each leg was perfectly aligned with a rope spanning the two seating sections.

The workers smiled and laughed throughout the setup efforts, and they wore similar attire – green or tan T-shirts with jeans and sneakers.

Linda Lambert said she and the other custodian and maintenance workers that were hustling about her have prepared Kolf for commencement for years, some of them for as many as two decades.

"We're always happy to do it because we love these kids," Lambert said.

By the time all the chairs get aligned, all they can see is black, one worker chuckled.

A similar sentiment could be seen Saturday during the ceremony as thousands of friends and family members scrambled to catch their loved ones' attention in the sea of black chairs, caps and gowns.

A small army of custodians and maintenance workers put in days of physical labor to transform the field house into the ceremonious stage. Other teams of students and staff work behind-the-scenes in offices, answering questions from graduates through a commencement email, hiring for commencement-day jobs and tweeting and posting to Facebook. Still more worked at the ceremony, guiding graduates, handing out programs and taking photos.

No detail is left out of the ceremony, even down to ironing the flags, which custodian Vicki Bernarde took care of on Wednesday

Across the way, Lambert unfolded another chair.

"I'm proud of it when it's done," she said.

As graduates looked about the field house on Saturday, some emotional, others beaming, it was clear they, too, were proud of their work.

Olivia Krumwiede, who graduated with a biology degree, and Danielle Kraak, who graduated with a chemistry degree, were both full of pride as they shared the rigorous classes and schedules they conquered to earn their degrees. Both are first-generation graduates in their families, as well.

"This a huge accomplishment," Kraak said.

Ethan Cutberth, who graduated with a degree in criminal justice, said all those hours in the library were finally paying off. It didn't quite feel like he was graduating as he lined up to walk into the field house, but he knew the feelings of accomplishment would kick in as he later walked across the stage.

"It's been a long journey but it was a journey definitely worth it," he said. "It takes time, it changes who you are and makes you a better person."

A few hours later, the speeches, cheers and awarding of diplomas had ended as quickly as it had begun. The chairs emptied of graduates row by row and as grads and their families left to celebrate, the bleachers echoed "UW Oshkosh" in painted pride.

And then, row by row, the custodians re-aligned the chairs for the next ceremony.

Noell Dickmann: 920-426-6658 or ndickmann@thenorthwestern.com. Follow @ONW_Noell on Twitter.