President Lester Lefton announced that his plan for a single yearly commencement will no longer be taking place.

Lefton made the announcement at Monday’s Faculty Senate meeting, citing a recent outpouring of negative responses and concerns.

“Maybe (we will) take it up in a couple of years, but right now it is a distraction,” Lefton told the Senate.

The plan for the move to a single commencement ceremony instead of the three commencement ceremonies that are currently held each year was proposed earlier this semester, and the first all-university commencement would have been held in May 2008.

That single ceremony would have been held rain or shine in Dix Stadium.

Lefton said he initially asked for feedback and got it for two months, and much of that preliminary response was positive, he said. But recently there was a surge of complaints. One of such concerns was the weather.

“I think it is a wise idea on his part (not to hold it) because of weather and students wanting degrees when they finish,” Faculty Senate member Tish Soper said.