At the start of Covid-19 last year, everything was shut down. The circumstances were filled with questions without answers, and hard sacrifices that had to be made.
Everyone went into some sort of quarantine procedure. Everything went online and no one could go anywhere or do anything. What was safe to do and what wasn’t? What were acceptable places to go? Among the many school events that had to be canceled was commencement.
For students graduating last spring in 2020 here at Winthrop, everything was virtual. The same went for most graduations; some students did have an in-person graduation, others had a drive-by graduation, but the majority was online. Many sat in front of a computer or some other device, stuck at home, in the living room while a family member waited for their child’s name to be spoken at the Zoom graduation ceremony. There were no parties to celebrate and no celebrating with their friends and classmates. The celebration of those who graduated college and were ready to start their professional careers was put on pause.
This year, however, is different. President Hynd recently announced that the Commencement Committee has created a plan to hold in-person graduation this May, with five ceremonies for each college on different days.
On May 6, there will be a graduation for only graduate students. May 7 will include College of Arts and Science, and College of Visual Arts Performance graduation, each college having their ceremony at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. respectively. And finally, on May 8 there will be a ceremony for the College of Business and College of Education. There will be no commencement speaker and each student can only have two guests.
While of course, this is not an ideal graduation, anything is better than nothing at all, right? However, it is completely understandable if seniors don’t feel as joyful for this kind of graduation ceremony. For the past few years undergraduates and graduates have had one goal: to graduate — and of course, that’s the most important thing. However, something they didn’t think they’d have to question about what would happen, would be the graduation ceremony. It’s happening but not in the way one would hope. These changes make it difficult to enjoy the ceremony regardless of the circumstances.
From personal experience, last year I had to have my high school graduation very similar to the one Winthrop is having this year. I could only bring two guests, and while I was happy that I could have a graduation ceremony, I was also disappointed. The graduation ceremony I was hoping to have included my siblings and my extended family, not just my parents. My grandma still flew out for my graduation, but she had to stay in the house and utilize technology in order to watch me walk across the stage. I didn’t realize it myself until later, but I was extremely disappointed in the fact that this was the graduation I was given.
Winthrop students, I imagine, feel the same way. Not only are they limited to who they can bring, but they’re also being limited on who they graduate with as well. I’m sure many students were hoping to graduate with all their friends.
However, not all students have friends who are in the same college that they are. If there’s a senior graduating with a degree in the College of Arts and Sciences, and most of their friends are graduating with a degree in business administration, that senior is going to feel pretty left out and lonely at their graduation. Graduation is about a celebration of a huge milestone, and yet it’s going to be a divided event.
Still, these seniors are fortunate to have a more satisfying graduation than last year’s graduates. While I’m sure seniors are relieved; they aren’t having a graduation that’s only virtual. Though they may not feel guilt, nor do they feel entitled to have any about having the “better” graduation.
Both last year and this year’s graduates understand that while we’re still in a pandemic, a lot has changed over this past year. Protocols for Covid now are not the same as they were in the beginning. If anything, it’s disappointing how we all thought that after a year since Covid began, we would be in a much better place and wouldn’t have to worry about such protocols.
Regardless, it is a slight improvement from last year. Seniors will get to walk across their stage like they’ve always wanted and take pictures with their families. While it’s not perfect, we’re all grateful for the faculty and staff who’ve done their best to make this an enjoyable time during a difficult period in our lives.
