It wasn’t the commencement they’d planned for. On April 26, University of Pittsburgh graduates heard congratulations from their peers, university leaders, government officials, and famous alumni — all from their own homes.
Colleges across the United States have been forced to cancel or postpone in-person commencement ceremonies during the coronavirus pandemic. But it’s nearly impossible to tell when those events might be rescheduled, so officials at Pitt and other colleges have decided to honor their graduates online.
I know this is exactly the way you thought your graduation would be. OK, well maybe not.
For Kathy Humphrey, Pitt’s senior vice chancellor for engagement, that meant breaking with what a traditional commencement looks like.
“We had our normal commencement blueprints, but I didn’t want to use that blueprint because we’re going to have an in-person commencement” when conditions allow, Humphrey said.
After weeks of focus groups with soon-to-be graduates, Humphrey and her team came up with an agenda for the university’s online celebration. It included messages from peers and promises of surprise guests.
Graduates watched from their homes as famous alumni and government officials congratulated them via YouTube.
“I know this is exactly the way you thought your graduation would be,” the billionaire entrepreneur and Pittsburgh native Mark Cuban told graduates. “OK, well maybe not, but let me tell you this: Where there is change, there is incredible opportunity.”
Cuban, who spent his freshman year at Pitt, wasn’t the only VIP with a cameo. Gov. Tom Wolf and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr., both Pennsylvania Democrats, and Joanne Rogers, widow of the beloved University of Pittsburgh graduate Fred Rogers, also offered congratulations.
Fireworks and a Zoom performance by members of Pitt’s marching band capped off the university’s celebration. As for the grads, only their families know whether they tossed their hats in the air.
As colleges and universities have struggled to devise policies to respond to the quickly evolving situation, here are links to The Chronicle’s key coverage of how this worldwide health crisis is affecting campuses.
Many colleges have held or are planning to hold online celebrations to honor the Class of 2020 — but some announcements of virtual events were initially met with a backlash and confusion.
Students organized petitions at institutions that planned online celebrations. “I didn’t beat cancer to graduate via email,” reads a comment on a petition about the University of Notre Dame’s online commencement. Some seniors petitioned pre-emptively to encourage their colleges to make in-person ceremonies a priority.
That was the case at Ohio State University, which staged its online commencement on Sunday, with plans for a physical celebration at some future date.
Under normal circumstances, graduates would lock arms on the field at Ohio Stadium, in Columbus, during the university’s commencement. With the physical event pushed back, leaders looked to maintain some sense of tradition in their live-streamed virtual ceremony.
University leaders spoke to graduates from the empty football stadium, coupled with a message from Tim Cook, chief executive of Apple. The live stream was reportedly a success, garnering more than 20,000 viewers at one point during its broadcast.
“We have to confer the degrees to our graduates, as planned,” Chris Davey, Ohio State’s interim vice president for university communications, told The Chronicle ahead of the ceremony. “They all worked hard and have earned this important academic credential. Many of them need it immediately for jobs that they’ve already taken.”
Although they had to celebrate at home, many Ohio State graduates still ordered their regalia for the virtual commencement, Davey said.
“We’re seeing hundreds and hundreds of our grads that are going ahead and getting their cap and gown, and many of them are telling us that they plan on wearing it that day,” he said.
Celebrities have been surprise guests at a number of online commencements. The actor Tom Hanks sent a message on Saturday to graduates of Wright State University’s department of theater, dance, and motion pictures.
“You are the chosen ones because of a fate unimagined when you began your Wright State adventures,” Hanks said. “You started in the olden times, in a world back before the Great Pandemic of 2020. You will talk of those earlier years in your lives in just that way.”
Other virtual celebrations are yet to come: The Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. will address graduates on Saturday at American University’s ceremony. And Barack and Michelle Obama will host a virtual event for new graduates of historically black colleges and universities on May 16. They will also appear alongside political figures and celebrities in a June 6 online celebration of the entire class of 2020.
The key to deciding how to handle commencements during the pandemic, college leaders say, is student input. Ball State University decided to delay its commencement until the fall and not bother with a virtual ceremony after a student survey showed an overwhelming desire for that approach.
Geoffrey S. Mearns, the university’s president, told The Chronicle that student input was one of the most important factors in his decision-making process.
“We thought it was important to receive guidance and input and suggestions from a variety of people,” Mearns said, “but first and foremost, from those people who were most directly affected by this decision, and that is the graduating students and their families.”
