Middle Tennessee State University on Nov. 21, 2020 held a unique in-person and outdoor graduation ceremony at the Floyd Stadium to celebrate the accomplishments of the class of 2020 amid the pandemic.
Earlier this fall semester, MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee announced that for the first time since the pandemic started, MTSU would hold in-person ceremonies on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020, three weeks before the end of the semester.
“I was truly excited when they offered it as an option,” said Emily McTyre, a video and film production major who participated in the graduation ceremony. “I was kind of wary of it to begin with, but I went ahead and signed up to secure a place,” McTyre added.
Interested participants had to register through an online portal by a certain date to participate. There were a total of three ceremonies scheduled at different times of the day and each student could only bring six guests to implement proper social distancing guidelines.
While the majority of seniors rejoiced at the prospect of a graduation ceremony this semester, others, such as Daja Green, a community and public health major, chose not to participate to protect her family from COVID-19.
“The people I would’ve invited—my mom, my grandmother, and my little brother—are high risk. My little brother has a weak immune system, and my mom has type 2 diabetes, so I just wanted to be cautious with them. Also, two years ago, my grandmother got sepsis and almost died, so ever since then, we’ve been careful of who she’s around,” said Green.
Several seniors also questioned the timing of the graduation, which was weeks before the end of the semester. Zeny Panol, associate dean of MTSU’s College of Media and Entertainment, said that while the ceremony this year was not the same as the pre-pandemic ones, the University tried its best to find a way to celebrate the graduates safely.
“Like all other aspects of our lives during this global pandemic, we had to adjust big time and put the health and safety of all concerned as our top priority. The scaled down version of last Saturday’s graduation ceremony, which was approved by our state health officials, was the responsible thing to do,” said Panol.
Besides spacing out the ceremonies, and limiting the number of guests, MTSU made some more modifications to the ceremony to ensure everyone’s safety. These include but are not limited to:
· No student processional or recessional
· Graduates were individually recognized at the ceremony by name and have their video image projected on the jumbotron, but they did not cross the stage.
· Masks (over the nose and mouth) were required for all participants, guests, and stadium workers throughout the stadium.
· Doctoral students were hooded by their faculty advisor.
· Facilities were appropriately sanitized before each ceremony.
· Hand sanitizer dispensers were deployed throughout the stadium.
· All public water fountains were disabled.
Since graduates were not allowed to walk across the stage, they instead received an MTSU Alumni bag at their seat which included a diploma cover, program, and complementary hand sanitizer.
“I felt really secure about their decision because I knew they wouldn’t move forward with that if it wasn’t in our best interest. There was plenty of space and they had us sitting apart enough. It all felt really safe and it was a great chance to celebrate the moment,” said McTyre. “I like how they addressed the situation. I felt like it was a thing to honor our accomplishments and acknowledge that we’ve persevered through this.”
May, August, and December 2020 graduates who were not able to participate in the ceremony last Saturday were given the option to participate in the May 2021 celebration.
MTSU also made it clear that since the graduation ceremony was held three weeks before the end of the semester, participation in the ceremony did not imply degree conferral. December 2020 graduates were still expected to attend the last few days of classes and take their final exams to receive their degree.
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