By Victoria Durgin, Co-editor-in-chief
Susquehanna University has moved commencement to August 9, 2020 in response to concerns about the spread of COVID-19.
The decision came after weeks of meetings and discussions with students, according to senior class president Devin Rossi.
“We did everything we could to accommodate the most students,” Rossi said.
According to Rossi, faculty, staff and student leaders began meeting once Susquehanna announced the extension of spring break on March 11 to discuss how the university could move student services and fun activities to a digital setting.
Rossi said once the university moved classes online for the remainder of the semester, many of those discussions shifted to how to move forward with commencement.
A poll was sent to all seniors asking for their opinions on the various possibilities for a new commencement date, which Rossi said kept the students’ voices as the priority for a decision.
“100 percent the biggest piece of this was the students and their concerns and opinions,” Rossi said.
According to Rossi, multiple departments across campus met with her and Donovan Gayles, the current president of the Student Government Association, to discuss the best plan to include as many students as possible.
“There was definitely a constant communication between faculty, staff and me and Donovan through this,” Rossi said.
Gayles said their main focus was on holding an event of some fashion on campus.
“Our main push was for some sort of ceremony or celebration in person to give seniors a chance to be together again before starting their lives post-college,” said Gayles.
Rossi also said it was important to her, Gayles and the faculty that a commencement be held somehow.
“Every student deserves this moment, and every student deserves a celebration and recognition of their accomplishments,” Rossi said.
The new commencement date also rescheduled the activities planned for senior week, which is typically held the week leading up to the commencement ceremony.
This year, seniors will enjoy a condensed version of the annual tradition on August 7 and 8. Rossi said this decision was made with students’ needs in minds, while Gayles stated that the senior week activities are important to students and the school.
“Susquehanna is a school that is prided on tradition. Having Senior Weekend activities is important to the senior class because it will … give seniors the chance to get together one last time and have closure given the circumstances,” Gayles said.
Rossi said not all students would be available for an entire week in August, a point by which students may have jobs or would be unable to commit to an entire week back on campus.
Rossi said she thinks this plan is the best way to accommodate students and that seniors remain the top priority as planning for senior weekend and commencement continues.
While commencement and senior weekend have been moved to August, students will still receive their degrees on time, according to an email sent to the faculty and staff by Susquehanna President Jonathan Green.
“I will confer their degrees on May 13, and we are working on a virtual conclusion of the academic year,” Green said.
In the same email Green also said all diplomas, caps and sashes will be mailed to students in May.
Rossi said while she is happy to work on securing a senior weekend and commencement the pressure of doing it while also handling her own transition to online work has been difficult.
“I know when I ran for class president, I didn’t have any experience to prepare for a pandemic,” Rossi said.
Rossi also said this time, which she referred to as being dealt a bad hand of cards, has shown her how resilient her fellow classmates are.
“Nobody expected this to happen, of course, but we have been able to overcome it,” Rossi said.
Gayles and Rossi, as well as Green in his emails to students and faculty, say they hope the August dates will allow students to enjoy time together and celebrate their graduation.