Seniors and their families learned that the venue for the Class of 2025 graduation ceremony has moved from the RAHS stadium to Roy Wilkins auditorium in Saint Paul, MN, June 8th at 4pm. RAHS says the decision to change venues was made due to weather concerns and capacity size.

According to AVID teacher Kerri Werner, the change offers a lot benefits for families.  Because of the increased size of Roy Wilkins the school will no longer limit how many people each graduate is allowed to invite.

“I think it’s great because there’s no limit on how many people your allowed to invite. And the Roy Wilkins auditorium is super pretty!” said Werner.

The Roy Wilkins auditorium is a 5000 seat multi purpose auditorium used for concerts, events, fairs and more.

Seniors were asked what they thought about the change and here’s what they had to say: “ It should have been at RAHS because it’s more comforting ending it where it began” said Evan Letts (12). He argued that it’s much more comforting being outside in a place you already are familiar with. It’s also looks much cooler in the stadium because it’s usually sunny and nice out says Letts.

For some, the change in graduation location does not affect them. Senior Kellen Little said, “It’d be cool if they changed it back to the stadium but it doesn’t really matter.”

It’s clear a lot of people think this is a positive benefit. “I think it will positively impact families because it offers more room, and there is no limit on how many people you can invite,” Said senior Conner Vue.

But why was the change implemented?

Werner said the original graduation has always been at the Roy Wilkins auditorium before 2020. It was changed to the outside stadium due to COVID rules and social distancing. Now that it’s safe they are able to return graduation to its original location. This means that changing the location back to rahs would actually be changing and breaking tradition.