Graduating seniors will congregate on the College Green outside of the Integrated Science Center (pictured above) on May 12 at 4 p.m. for the procession ceremony (Photo Editor/Kate Rodgers).
Commencement is scheduled to take place during two ceremonies on Wednesday May 12 and Saturday May 22. The former will be a procession from the College Green to the College Stadium that students must register for and no guests will be permitted to attend. The latter is a virtual commencement ceremony and degree conferral.
On January 16, the campus community was notified via email that the traditional in-person commencement ceremony scheduled to take place on May 22 was canceled, citing the ongoing COVID-19 public health crisis. On April 1, students were again notified via email from President Denise Battles that “after several weeks of discussing and planning, including consultation with [the] local health department and guidance from SUNY, [the College] is pleased to announce a hybrid commencement plan for the class of 2021.”
According to a Geneseo webpage dedicated to 2021 commencement frequently asked questions, the College cannot host an in-person commencement ceremony outside because of current New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) guidelines. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that starting March 22, events can host up to 200 people outside or 500 if participants provide negative tests.
The class of 2021 is comprised of 1,200 students. There are also contractual obligations and associated deadlines for the College to host an in-person or virtual event, whereby the decision regarding the formality of this year’s ceremony was made in January.
“We typically provide four tickets per student, which puts our total attendance as high as 4,800. We would need to host multiple events to comply with the guidelines. While our stadium can accommodate 500 participants, we are not able to put chairs or a stage on the turf due to the type of material from which it is constructed,” according to the webpage.
Director of Campus Scheduling & Special Events Andrea Klein explained the commencement process for the classes of fall 2020 and spring 2021 in an email statement to The Lamron.
“What we're doing this year is a hybrid approach,” Klein said. “We were able to expand our commencement celebration from our original plans because of improvements in the public health situation and the state allowing, with careful preparations and protocols in place, in-person events to resume-following very specific guidance and if at all possible, held outdoors for safety.”
According to the Geneseo commencement webpage, students who plan to participate have to register for the procession on May 12 no later than Friday April 16. The form can be found here or on Geneseo’s website. Students who are required to participate in pooled testing must do so weekly to be eligible to attend.
On May 12 ay 4 p.m., graduating students will meet on the College Green in regalia and be led to the College Stadium in a procession. When students arrive at the College Green to check-in, they will receive a custom printed reader card, a face mask to match the regalia and instructions, according to Battles’ April 1 email.
“We were going to give them the procession and their regalia since that's a really festive part of commencement. And then that really sentimental piece of stage crossing where they hear their name called and they received congratulations,” said Klein.
According to the email, at approximately 4:45 p.m., students will process down College Drive and march into the stadium. Here, they will individually cross a stage while their names are read, receive their diploma cover, and have their photo taken by GradImages where proofs will be sent afterward for purchase.
“Graduates will be outside, in masks, physically distanced. They will be handed a diploma cover … there will be no handshake,” Klein said.
The College is abiding by physical distancing guidelines set forth by the NYSDOH that prevent them from handing students a diploma and/or shaking students’ hands, according to the commencement FAQ webpage. Students will have the opportunity to have a formal portrait taken in their regalia holding a diploma cover.
Klein said that no guests or parents will be allowed to attend the May 12 ceremony, and there will be no reception afterward.
“The graduate procession and recognition event on Wednesday, May 12 will be live streamed as current COVID-19 regulations do not allow guests on campus,” Klein said.
The May 12 ceremony will continue to be available online after the ceremony’s conclusion, according to the webpage.
In addition to the procession, on May 22 at 10 a.m., a pre-recorded virtual ceremony will be made available to graduates to share with their friends and family. According to the website, this ceremony will include senior orations, messages from Geneseo alumni and the recognition of each individual graduate by name.
The virtual commencement ceremony will be launched May 22 and will include “a program of student, guest and College speakers. [The] Music Department will be featured performing the National Anthem and Geneseo’s Alma Mater. Graduates will have an opportunity to submit a photo of their choice, a quote/brief comment and a 10 second video clip. The graduates' names will be announced in sections and will be presented in alpha order and searchable,” according to the commencement FAQ webpage.
Sociology major senior Macaire Lisicki said while encouraging to see Geneseo prioritize the celebration of student’s graduation, she still has some frustration about the scheduling of the event.
“[The College] scheduled the procession to take place the week before finals,” Ueshiro said. “I dont really think
Despite Lisicki’s concern, she said that she is ultimately positive about the hybrid approach.
“I am happy that [The College] created some type of celebration for grauadting seniors,” Lisicki said.
Physics major senior Giacomo Aris said that he is generally very pleased with the change in commencement plans on behalf of the College, but he does not understand why some other SUNYs have a traditional commencement with guests.
“I’m honestly just very happy the school decided to plan some type of in-person event for us,” Aris said. “I was really disappointed when graduation was canceled … I felt like I worked for four years and didn’t even get a real graduation. My friends from other SUNYs though do have a traditional graduation ceremony which is a little frustrating … but again, I’m really happy with [the procession arrangement].”
All SUNYs “operate individually under their own leadership and each campus has different resources and considerations that inform their decisions of what their individual commencements look like. Even outside of a pandemic, commencement ceremonies are unique to each institution,” according to the 2021 commencement FAQ webpage.
Lisicki and Aris corroborated to express their recommendation that the College offer an in-person commencement with small groups of students.
The 2021 commencement FAQ webpage cites the NYS Department of Health Guidelines as the reason this recommendation was considered and overturned.
“This is a total number, so it would include staff and College participants and event planners, as well. We would need to host nearly 16 events, which typically last up to two hours, to accommodate all our graduates, more if we are inviting their families, as well,” according to the webpage.