Holly Jenkins

Reporter

University President Dr. Chris Maggio announced that there will be a virtual commencement program on May 8, the day that ceremonies were originally intended to take place, followed by a traditional, face-to-face ceremony later this summer.

On March 18, Dr. Maggio said that the commencement for spring graduates had been postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Following that announcement, the Student Government Association created a survey to get graduating seniors’ opinions on rescheduling commencement. 

The survey included options such as rescheduling commencement to a later date in the summer, combining it with the fall 2020 graduation in December or even holding a digital commencement ceremony.

“It sucks we have to postpone sports, theater performances, and other activities,” Autumn Hanks, senior criminal justice major, said. “It’s weird having something done a certain way your whole life, but when the pandemic hit us, we had to stop and change almost everything.”

An exact date for the spring graduate commencement ceremony will be released later as officials learn more about how long social distancing measures need to continue.