BEND, Ore. — Oregon State University’s Cascades Campus held its commencement ceremony for the Class of 2024 on Sunday. “355 students will receive bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees, the third-highest number in our 23-year history,” said Christine Coffin, president of the school. “Around 62 of these students are the first in their families to attend and graduate from college.”
Among those earning the graduate degree will be the first to complete a three-year doctorate of physical therapy program on campus. “We’re going to have 44 students graduating from this program, and they’ll be prepared to go into clinics and help improve the quality of people’s lives,” a field that’s especially in high demand in Bend. “But one of the reasons the degree program started here in 2021 is because there’s a real need for physical therapists across the state, especially in rural areas,” Coffin said. “Oftentimes, rural areas may not have physical therapists at all, which means people who need care either don’t have access to a specialist at all or have to travel miles to get there.”
She told KBND News the school is aware that protesters have disrupted ceremonies elsewhere this season, but she doesn’t think that will happen in Bend. “We support free speech and freedom of expression and have been preparing so that if protests do occur, we can handle them fairly and keep the focus on the graduates.”
Coffin expects about 3,000 people to attend the graduation ceremony on Sunday at OSU-Cascades in Bend. The ceremony begins at 10 a.m.
Photo: Oregon State University-Cascades graduating class celebrates the Class of 2023. Courtesy Oregon State University.
