Photo: Former co-coordinators of the CPJ at Evergreen’s 2019 graduation. BRITT PIERRO
by Miette Deschenes
On April 15, Evergreen President George Bridges announced that this year’s commencement ceremony will be held online. This decision is not a particularly surprising one, considering Evergreen has switched to online remote learning for the entirety of the spring quarter, and many high schools and colleges, including UCLA and Johns Hopkins University, have opted to host virtual commencement ceremonies as well.
The ceremony, which will still take place on June 12 at 1 p.m., will be hosted via webcast. In a statement released on the Evergreen website, the college confirmed that friends and family will still be able to attend the ceremony. Graduates will be given a link to the webcast which they can share with anyone they want to invite. Additionally, all graduates will receive their programs, diplomas and mortarboards via mail, and have been invited to walk at the 2021 commencement ceremony. It’s important to note that despite the changes made to the commencement ceremony, students’ graduation status will not be affected. As long as they have applied and registered to graduate, they will graduate on time and still receive their degree.
Some students have expressed dissatisfaction with the way Evergreen has handled the announcement. In a discussion post in the Evergreen Community COVID-19 Support Group on Facebook, student Melinda Lupe asked fellow Greeners if any of the graduating class of 2020 had been consulted about the decision to host virtual graduation, as Bridges had claimed in his official announcement that student representatives had assisted in the decision. Senior Amber Fletcher responded and explained that she was on the commencement planning committee, which had formed earlier in the year, and that the group only consisted of around 10 people. She went on to state that students in the group were recently consulted about the commencement ceremony, and they were offered “a virtual ceremony or nothing.”
Fellow senior, Sheldon Kreger, shared that he was also on the committee, and explained how the decision to have a virtual ceremony was made. “We have no solid timeline for when campus can re-open,” he said in his post. “With many family members living out-of-state, it would be unreasonable to ask them to purchase plane tickets, even if we pushed the ceremony later in the year … Although I am very disappointed about this change, I feel like the process has been reasonable and the best decision was made.”
Since the announcement was made very recently, more details will likely be released soon. According to Bridges’ statement, the ceremony will still include guest speakers, musicians and honorees as normal, and it appears the college is making an effort to preserve as much of the traditional commencement experience as possible. More information can be found at evergreen.edu/graduation as it comes out.
