King’s Announces Virtual Commencement Ceremony
The King’s College class of 2019 at graduation
After much deliberation, the President’s Cabinet decided to transfer the traditional Commencement Ceremony to an online ceremony due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The virtual Commencement Ceremony will take place on Saturday, May 9 at 12 p.m. and will be open to friends and family. The virtual Award Ceremony will take place on Friday, May 8 at 8 p.m. and will also be open to friends and family of the King’s community.
Only two days after they came to their final decision, Governor Cuomo announced that the New York Pause initiative, legislation restricting non-essential gatherings of any size, would be extended to May 15, confirming their original decision to have Commencement online.
Instead of postponing graduation until the fall, the President’s Cabinet decided to instead hold a Class of 2020 Celebration on Nov. 6 during Homecoming 2020. The Cabinet acknowledged that if they rescheduled graduation in the fall, it could once again be canceled because of the unpredictability of the COVID-19 outbreak.
“I’m sad we don’t get to celebrate the accomplishments of our seniors, who have put so much time and energy into this community and mentored the younger classes,” said Colin Phillips, Student Body President for 2020-2021. “I know that despite the fact that we can’t celebrate them in person, we all carry the highest respect and love for our soon-to-be graduates.”
Seniors are encouraged to fill out the form attached to the email sent by Megan Dishman, Assistant Vice President of Marketing and Communications, to receive a refund for their $275 graduation fee.
Though the news of virtual Commencement isn’t unexpected, there is inevitable disappointment among seniors who were looking forward to graduation and activities in the months leading up to it.
Kaylee Long, the class of 2020 valedictorian, officially graduated in December, but was planning to be recognized in May with the rest of her classmates.
“I'm humbled and grateful for the recognition, but I'll miss seeing all my friends and classmates take the stage to receive their diplomas,” Long said. “When I've attended other people's graduations in the past, the speeches are rarely what stood out to me. Seeing a whole class of students standing together, recognizing their accomplishments—that's the impressive thing. I hope that we can find a way to mimic that feeling.”
Rachel Shinn, a senior in the House of Margaret Thatcher studying PPE, expressed her feelings on the cancellation from her home in North Carolina.
“The hardest part is not being able to be with friends and professors—people who are like family to me—in person for this.”
Though the situation is disappointing, Shinn has decided to approach it with as much positivity as possible.
“I want to finish the work God’s given me with excellence and be intentional about encouraging others even as we wrestle with grief, uncertainty, and fear—in other words, choose courage over apathy,” Shinn said.
Today at 4:45 p.m. members of the class of 2020 sent a petition to President Gibson and King’s staff. The petition proposes the option for seniors to walk in-person at a later date. (https://docs.google.com/document/d/16ipGqcZkfK8JF6idpqazpxz2kpuhUCqp4LDhVukvTjI/edit)
UPDATE: 8:25 April 16, 2020
Dishman sent an email to all graduates in response to the complaints they wrote. In the email, she said: “I write to offer assurance that the President’s Cabinet hears your comments about graduation. We are considering options to provide you an in-person Commencement experience at a later date, in addition to the May 9 virtual ceremony. We know that a virtual ceremony is not a sufficient substitute for a traditional Commencement. We also do not want your graduation to pass without celebrating you.”