From touring campus buildings to decorating graduation caps, the Office of Student Life has a Commencement Week filled with free activities for autumn graduates.

Activities started on Sunday and will run through Friday, with Autumn Commencement scheduled to take place on Dec. 21.

“This is the second year for Autumn Commencement Week and I am beyond excited to see how it continues to grow and give students graduating in Autumn Semester an experience that, at one time, was only available to students graduating in Spring Semester,” said Brett Bejcek, a second-year in data analytics and actuarial science who serves as student chair for the event.

All graduating undergraduate, graduate, and professional students are encouraged to participate and invite their family and friends along, according to OSU’s Commencement Week website.

These activities are paid for through signature events funding from the student activity fee, said Bejcek.

Signature events receive supplemental funding because they are known as some of OSU’s largest and most well-known and attended campus events, according to the Ohio Union website. The funding is provided by roughly 7 percent of the student activity fee, the website said.

The student activity fee is $37.50 per semester, according to the Ohio Union’s website.

On the Commencement Week website, each day has a schedule of events happening around campus for graduates, including one event called “Things You Never Got To See Tour.”

This is a tour that visits places on campus that many students might not have been able to see during their time at OSU. Stops include the University Museum, Chadwick Arboretum, the path of the Underground Railroad and more.

Students will also have the opportunity to decorate their caps on Wednesday from 5 to 8 p.m. in the Ohio Union Great Hall Meeting Rooms.

“I am really excited to decorate my graduation cap, and having a night set aside to do that is really helpful,” said Dara Ferryman, a fourth-year in agricultural communication.

Students who are not graduating but still want to be involved can stop by the Grad Cap Decorating night and write cards to graduating seniors, Bejcek said.

Another new event this year is the Autumn Candlelight Ceremony, which closely mimics the Spring Candlelight Ceremony, Bejcek said.

The event is set to begin with a dessert reception and end with a candlelight rendition of “Carmen Ohio.” Graduates will also receive a class pin available exclusively at the event, according to the Commencement Week website.

This event will also feature speakers such as Javaune Adams-Gaston, vice president of Student Life, and Chad Warren, associate vice president of the OSU Alumni Association.

“My family and I are going to this event and I think that the candlelight ceremony will be a great experience to celebrate with my family at such a sentimental event,” Ferryman said.

The ceremony is set to be held at the Faculty Club on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Some students from other branch campuses plan to take advantage of the activities.

“The events that are offered this week are great because they are family friendly,” said Katie Miller, a third-year who is graduating from the Agricultural Technical Institute (ATI) in Wooster. “I’m glad that I can bring my family for a week of fun before the graduation ceremony on Sunday.”

The Alumni Association will be distributing free commencement T-shirts throughout the week as well.

Graduating students can bring their Buck ID to the Alumni Association satellite office in the Ohio Union from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. throughout Commencement Week to pick up their shirts, according to the Commencement Week website.

Autumn Commencement is scheduled to take place at the Schottenstein Center on Sunday. OSU history professor David Steigerwald has been selected to give the commencement address.

Doors open at noon and the ceremony is set to begin at 2 p.m.