Less pomp, given circumstance: Students grapple with virtual graduations
In the days leading up to graduation, Elon University in North Carolina is unusually quiet. While some students trickle back onto campus to take photos in maroon graduation robes, most have gone home. Seniors will not gather under the historic oak grove for a farewell picnic with faculty and staff, and on graduation day, no one will walk across the stage in the new Schar Center to accept a diploma.聽
Instead, the long-awaited recognition of achievement will arrive as an email following a livestreamed conferral ceremony on May 22.聽
Kendall Hiti plans to watch the event with her friends on Zoom.聽Then, when the lease on her off-campus apartment is up, she鈥檒l start the 44-hour road trip home to San Francisco. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really not what I expected out of all of this,鈥� she says.
Why We Wrote This
As rewarding as a journey can be, it can be difficult to see a long-anticipated celebration simply evaporate. Disappointed but undeterred, college seniors are finding other ways to commemorate graduation.
Senior springs are typically packed with beloved traditions and emotional goodbyes as students prepare to launch into the 鈥渞eal world.鈥� Instead, many college seniors are stuck in their childhood bedrooms wondering: 鈥淲hat now?鈥�
Editor鈥檚 note: As a public service,聽all our coronavirus coverage聽is free. No paywall.
As schools rush to provide online graduation programming, students say it鈥檚 hard to find closure after the coronavirus scattered classmates around the world. For many, these virtual ceremonies feel like placeholders. And colleges, which are trying to balance student disappointment and public safety concerns, have been slow to commit to a makeup commencement sometime in the future.聽
Donovan Livingston, an assistant dean at Wake Forest University and author of the viral 2016 convocation address 鈥淟ift Off,鈥� says this pandemic has challenged schools and individuals to preserve those feelings of accomplishment until college communities can gather together again.
鈥淥ne thing that鈥檚 been fascinating is to see that energy universities are putting into creatively finding ways to celebrate their students,鈥� he says, 鈥渨hether it鈥檚 gathering notable alumni and getting them to show love and appreciation or hosting ... these virtual commencement ceremonies.鈥�
Touchstones and keepsakes
It takes a lot for schools to cancel commencement. In 1970, several colleges and universities cancelled graduation ceremonies following the Kent State shootings and ongoing protests over the Vietnam War. But many other schools simply adapted traditions to acknowledge the student unrest, or just proceeded as usual.
Today, widespread lockdowns have left an unprecedented crater in higher education, derailing spring classes and graduation ceremonies. During the initial evacuation of college campuses in March, some members of the class of 2020 took a moment to re-create their most anticipated senior traditions.
At Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, seniors marched themselves across campus in a stripped-down version of the college鈥檚 annual Laurel Parade. Colorado College鈥檚 graduating class fast-tracked their end-of-year bash, with students gathering for a toast at the school flagpole. Jela Latham, a senior at Ohio University, made sure to nab a loose brick on her way out of Athens, Ohio, in March. Stealing an Athens brick is a way seniors take a little piece of their beloved college town with them, says Ms. Latham. 鈥淭he university hates it but I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 a tradition that鈥檚 going down any time soon,鈥� she says.聽
Since their final days on campus, seniors say online classes and end-of-year celebrations have fallen flat. It鈥檚 not the pomp and circumstance they miss, but the casual conversations, conspiratorial whispers between classmates, and accidental run-ins on the quad.
鈥淓veryone鈥檚 working really, really hard. So there was something magical about the opportunity to have this ... unstructured time with each other,鈥� says Julia Pinney, a senior at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. 鈥淚鈥檝e realized it鈥檚 really easy to keep in touch with friends who you know super well. But the casual friends, who really bring a lot of joy to life, that鈥檚 really hard to replicate by Zoom.鈥�
But college administrations are still searching for ways to make their newly minted graduates feel special.
Virtual commencement
Schools are trying to preserve as many elements of commencement as possible, from celebrity keynote speakers to department receptions and student galleries 鈥� often with mixed success.聽
Ms. Latham, a first-generation student majoring in publication design, has been waiting to see her work hanging in Ohio University鈥檚 senior show since she was a freshman. It would have been a great opportunity for her parents to interact with the professors who shaped her college experience. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think my dad has ever met any of my professors,鈥� she says.
Instead, they got a peek into some student traditions.
鈥淲e had a virtual senior farewell toast, which is usually held in a giant ballroom,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e did that through Zoom. It was actually really cool because my family watched it with me.鈥�
Northeastern University in Boston will not host a classwide ceremony online, but students who fall under the College of Arts, Media and Design had a 40-minute celebration on Zoom on May 1 with messages from deans and a student performance of 鈥淟ean on Me.鈥� At the end, graduates鈥� names ran across the screen like movie credits.
Evan Ortega, a geography student at University of Washington, submitted a photo of himself and nominated a favorite teacher in preparation for his department鈥檚 graduation ceremony on June 11. He also requested eight 鈥渢ickets鈥� 鈥� protected links 鈥� to the university鈥檚 larger graduation event on June 13. Mr. Ortega is still renting a house 10 minutes from campus, but his best friend and family will attend virtually from a suburb outside Seattle. He plans on moving home in late July.
Despite his disappointment, Mr. Ortega is trying to focus on the positive, like聽the extra time he鈥檚 been able to spend with his roommates, and his family鈥檚 overall health and safety.
鈥淚 do wish that I could have had a normal graduation,鈥� he says. 鈥淗owever, I think the fact that I鈥檓 still graduating, that I鈥檓 finished with all this, is still relieving. ... My mom also sent me an email, and she was like 鈥榳hatever happens, graduation gifts are not cancelled because of COVID-19.鈥欌��
Mixed feelings over future ceremonies
Many people are still hanging onto the idea of having a 鈥渘ormal鈥� graduation together聽at some point,聽but colleges face the challenge of retrofitting their traditions into an undetermined weekend. Some smaller schools, like Bennington College in Vermont, have simply invited graduates to walk in the 2021 commencement. Elon University has floated the idea of hosting belated graduation ceremonies over fall vacation, but ongoing concerns about the coronavirus have made the administration hesitant to commit to a date.聽
鈥淲e get at least one email weekly that鈥檚 a huge update on everything,鈥� says Ms. Hiti, who graduates from Elon University on May 22. 鈥淚 just wish there was information confirmed on the in-person graduation ... because I鈥檇 be flying all the way from California.鈥�
Some students wonder if it will even be safe to gather so many people together again, or if schools will unintentionally exclude international students or those who can鈥檛 afford last-minute travel. Others are feeling more apathetic about returning to campus at all.
While Ms. Pinney misses her classmates, the American studies student is a bit skeptical about Georgetown University鈥檚 makeup celebration.
鈥淚鈥檓 very much transitioned into being a grad,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 hang out with my high school best friends. I hang out with my parents. I walk my dog. 鈥� I feel very disconnected from Georgetown at this point.鈥�
But Dr. Livingston thinks creating the opportunity for seniors to reunite once restrictions are lifted is critical.聽
鈥淔inding ways to celebrate students no matter where they are [in their careers] is really important,鈥� he says. 鈥淚f you have a student that鈥檚 graduated and they鈥檙e at an entry level job on Wall Street, they still might feel the need to come back to campus to have that moment, to have that sense of closure, that sense of community.鈥�
Correspondents Asia Palomba and Riley Robinson contributed to this report.
Editor鈥檚 note: As a public service,聽all our coronavirus coverage聽is free. No paywall.
