Rain dampened outdoor commencement ceremonies Sunday morning at UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University and chased Meredith College graduates to exercise a drafty, bad-weather backup not far from campus -- Dorton Arena at the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh.

Some Duke and UNC graduates wore makeshift garbage-bag ponchos and other plastic covering for their caps and gowns. Meredith graduates shivered in the indoor chill of an arena open to the damp outdoor breezes.

At Duke University, the mortarboard toss was accompanied by another celebratory flourish -- the umbrella pump. Thousands of grads in soggy polyester gowns sat through commencement ceremonies at Wallace Wade Stadium while proud relatives huddled under umbrellas and used their commencement programs as seat cushions on wet bleachers.

At UNC, rain prompted university officials to ditch the commencement speeches of opera singer Jessye Norman and other speakers and move quickly to dispensing diplomas.

The result: a ceremony of about 20 minutes.

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