Virtual Graduations in the Age of the Coronavirus
The following article was featured in the June 2020 edition of The Campus.
By Nate Izzo
The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the way students all over the world are receiving their education. Since mid-March, students and staff alike have managed to make the switch to online classes and adapt to this new normal. However, for many students, the biggest thing on their minds is not how they are receiving their education, but how they are finishing it off.
With all large gatherings banned, so is this year’s graduation commencement ceremony. This situation leaves hundreds of students without the traditional capstone of their education, and very little time for staff to organize an alternative. The two most likely options seem to be either having a small commencement for each department online or having this year’s graduates walk with the Class of 2021 next year. With the uncertainty around the whole event, graduating students have mixed feelings about these options, both as a group and individually.
Eva Friedberg, an International Studies and Anthropology major with Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies as minors, spent the rest of her semester outside the city at her parents’ house in Rockland. Friedberg was initially upset by the idea of online graduation but eventually shifted her opinion. “To be honest, as time went on, I adjusted my expectations and welcomed it,” she said. “It’s not what I would have thought I’d be doing, but I’m happy to adapt and adjust to the times.”
Sara Rasmussen, a Chemical Engineering major, stayed in the city for her quarantine. She feels negatively towards the idea of an online graduation, especially taking into account how the Grove School of Engineering has been handling it. “I like the idea of it being offered, but I don't know all the details yet. I don’t know how it’s gonna look,” she commented. “I don’t want something half-assed, and I feel like the one that Grove is putting together is half-assed.”
The necessity of an alternate graduation ceremony in such short notice has no doubt been difficult for each one of the departments at City College. Unfortunately, communication between the departments and their students has been poor, leaving students out of the loop with no concrete commencement plans to look forward to.
“I’m still a bit confused as to how the graduation will be celebrated online in terms of the type of streaming service and schedule,” Friedberg said. “I’ve gotten a few general emails but nothing with specific instructions, at least not for the general graduation.“ Rasmussen had a similar take, saying, “We might be using Zoom, but the parents might also be using it, or watching it live on YouTube. It’s annoying and stressful, and it kind of takes away from the celebration.”
Rasmussen’s ideal graduation would be to wait until next year and walk in person with her senior class, which she has grown close to over the years in the Chemical Engineering program. “If we wait until next year to walk, there’s a potential for all of us to be there that we don’t get otherwise. I’d rather wait for that because then I can be with all fifty-some people.”
Friedberg, on the other hand, is content to have an online commencement, celebrate with friends and family, and move on to the rest of her life. “Personally, I’m not interested in a postponed graduation, as I feel like the moment will pass and we will all be moving on with our lives,” she said. “I understand others would enjoy a ceremony next year, but I probably won’t be attending. If a Zoom graduation is the best we can do at the moment, I’m happy to do it.”
While the current pandemic has upended almost all normal parts of our life, it is still important to acknowledge the achievement that is completing a college education. While it is unfortunate and saddening that this year’s graduates, the Class of 2020, will not have the traditional commencement ceremony on the South Lawn, we can still celebrate this simple fact, be it online, delayed, or otherwise: they made it!
