Pictured Above: Following an announcement of cancellation from the Florida Board of Governors, USF St. Petersburg faculty moved to create alternative Spring-Summer commencement.
Cassidy Schuck | The Crow’s Nest
By Catherine Hicks
In accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to limit large gatherings, the Florida Board of Governors announced yesterday that all summer commencement ceremonies should be rescheduled or moved to virtual platforms by universities.
“Recognizing that health guidelines still limit gatherings at this time, it is prudent for universities to develop alternate plans for summer commencement ceremonies,” the announcement stated, “which includes any rescheduled spring commencement plans that may have been changed to the summer.”
The change comes three months after universities were originally directed to develop alternative commencement plans for spring 2020.
USF St. Petersburg was one of the universities to develop alternative plans, rescheduling spring commencement to be combined with summer’s existing ceremony on Aug. 9.
“Unfortunately, today’s announcement means that our traditional on-campus commencement ceremonies cannot proceed in August as planned,” said Carrie O’Brion, USF St. Petersburg’s communications and marketing director, in a commencement update released in response to the change.
Following the press release, USF St. Petersburg began working on developing an alternative commencement solution.
“There is a universitywide committee working on commencement planning. I am sure they will immediately begin work on planning an alternative to traditional summer commencement,” said Regional Chancellor Martin Tadlock, “We will honor our graduates and recognize them for their accomplishments, and we will do it in a way that keeps them safe.”
Some university faculty agree with the sentiment, emphasizing the importance of utilizing creative techniques in order to showcase graduating students in unique ways.
“I think it’s important to go beyond virtual ceremonies that recreate what might have happened face-to-face,” said Dr. Casey Frechette, professor and department chair of journalism and digital communications, who created a virtual yearbook for graduating students in spring 2020.
“We need to find creative new ways to celebrate students’ accomplishments, putting our graduates and their families front and center… However we approach it, students should be involved in designing and executing whatever we plan.”
Despite methods that create an alternative virtual experience for graduates, many people expect that students will be waiting until the CDC deems it safe enough to hold large gatherings such as commencement.
“Fall commencement is going to be huge,” wrote spring 2020 graduate William Trippett in a Facebook comment responding to the announcement.
Though there’s no confirmation that spring and summer 2020 commencement will be combined with fall, the commencement update released by O’Brion earlier today confirms that there will eventually be a large commencement.
“We also want to reaffirm our commitment to invite our spring 2020 and summer 2020 graduates to participate in a future traditional in person commencement, as soon as those ceremonies can safely resume,” the update stated.
