Gage Johnson
Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]
On Tuesday, March 24, not long after announcing that there were plans in place for an in-person graduation ceremony for the 2020 and 2021 graduating class, Provost Tim Todd gave the full details to faculty, staff and students via email.
According to the email, there will be four separate in-person graduation ceremonies in the CFSB Center for all 2020 and Spring and Summer 2021 graduates as long as all safety protocols are followed.
The first of the four ceremonies will be for master’s and doctoral students only on Friday, May 7, at 7 p.m.
The other three ceremonies are open to all 2020 and 2021 graduates. The three ceremonies all take place on Saturday, May 8, with the first at 8 a.m., the second at 11 a.m., with the third and final ceremony at 2 p.m.
Because of COVID-19 there are plenty of safety protocols in place. For all of those attending commencement, masks must be worn and social distancing will be enforced in order to help protect the health and safety of all in attendance.
There will also be a limited capacity allowed to attend each approximately 90-minute ceremony, with a max of 300 students allowed to participate in each ceremony.
For those students interested in participating it is required that you register online for what you preferred ceremony would be as well as your second choice. Registration opens at 8 a.m. on Monday, March 29, and closes at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, April 23.
If seats are no longer available for the ceremony of one’s choosing, they will be part of their second choice based on seat availability. If neither option is available, they will be a part of whatever ceremony has room.
Each student will be allowed to have four family/friends be in the audience via a digital ticketing process. Four virtual tickets will be distributed through TicketMaster to the student’s email account.
Students will be able to transfer the tickets electronically to those they wish to be in the audience. All guests, including infants and small children, must have a ticket to enter the CFSB Center. Walk-ins will not be permitted on the day of the ceremony in order to help enforce social distancing.
Linsay Henderson, a 2020 graduate with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture with pre-vet/vet tech emphasis,is thrilled to be having an in-person ceremony. So thrilled in fact, she immediately called her boss to ask for the day off and will be making a 10-hour drive to attend.
“I never had a high school graduation because I was homeschooled, so it made me super excited that I was finally going to get my first graduation,” Henderson said.
Many other 2020 graduates voiced their opinions on the in-person graduation on Facebook, like 2020 graduate Damon Oliver who said he is thrilled to get the chance to walk across the stage this May.
Others were upset at the short notice and said that they will not be returning to campus for any of the four commencement ceremonies.
“When were they going to let 2020 grads know this, though,” said 2020 graduate Brooke Croel. “Glad I still like this page. I’d love to come back for a ceremony but unfortunately this isn’t before my semester will be over so it isn’t very practical for me to come back for it, especially with not a great heads up.”
For more information on commencement, visit https://www.murraystate.edu/commencement/index.aspx.
