University of Michigan cancels all commencement ceremonies and encourages students to go home
I know everybody has their own reaction to graduation ceremonies, and there's no right or wrong there.
I've attended a number of ceremonies for a bunch of family members, including my own at U-M, and for me, every one was an enormously tedious and boring affair that I couldn't wait to see end.
I mean I'd care more about the loss of two months of being with friends and enjoying college knowing its all coming to an end more than the 2 hour ceremony.
My wife just gave a talk at Albion college this morning. They are telling their students that if they leave campus they cannot come back. So basically either stay here or go home for the summer.
There are bigger issues facing all of us right now, but this is itself a tragedy. The last weeks of my senior year at Michigan will always have a special place in my memory. It galvanized many aspects of who I am today. My heart goes out to all students in Ann Arbor, and in particular those who are on their last time around.
I missed my graduation to attend NELP, it was well worth it. I sympathize but graduations are like weddings in reverse. The day itself is not so important, it's everything that preceded it that matters most.
So what happens now? If you're a senior, are they just automatically passing you and saying you're graduating? If not, are you being forced to complete the classes over a spring or summer semester? What about freshmen-juniors? Are those credits still getting applied towards graduation?
Whole lot of questions and I'm presuming not a lot of immediate answers. But I feel awful for this year's seniors.
Don’t they have to finish their classes online?
I assume the online thing is the way to go in order to get grades and pass classes. However, all of this is being done on a wing and a prayer. Rules are being made up by the day.
I missed my commencement, went to pick up my diploma on my way out of town — with the Army looming — but they were on lunch break and the door was locked. I checked the next door down the hall, it was unlocked, I went in, climbed over tall file cabinets to get into the diploma "room," got mine, and left.
For a long time, though I figured (hoped) taking my diploma wasn't theft, I worried that not signing anything, I hadn't actually graduated.
(I did.)
My son is a senior this year, class of 2020. He loves his university and was pretty disappointed with the news today of the commencement cancellation. Given the severity of the virus however, he understood it was a necessary decision to cancel.
Good News ! This evening an email notification was sent to families and parents by the university that assured they will find another date for commencement for the class of 2020 and the graduates will be part of those discussions.
If the commencement does happen, it will be more emotional for me than him. Getting tears thinking of the day. Go Blue!
We'll be picking up UM Grad 2023 (fingers crossed that it's not 2024!) from South Quad on Sunday. We are fortunate that he's very chill and easy-going...so he's not too upset. If this had happened to our daughter, it would be fraught with tears, screaming, drama, etc.
March 13th, 2020 at 10:52 PM ^
As a senior this year this has been the worst week imaginable. I can't sing at my last concert with my a cappella group, can't give any more tours for students and families and it just feels like everything has been taken so quickly. I'm sure this is all for the better but in the short term it just sucks but it's been a great 4 years and nothing can take away all of the awesome memories at the big house, crisler, even cramming programming projects and exams. Go blue forever
March 14th, 2020 at 12:14 AM ^
That's so sad. Walking across the stage as a student and years later being the proud parent of a UM graduate were two terrific moments.
If you think this sucks, you haven’t seen anything yet. Italy’s healthcare system is on its knees right now, and it’s going to get worse there. They aren’t allowed to leave home unless they have an exception.
We are just a couple weeks behind Italy as I understand it. People you know will almost inevitably start to contract the illness and some may die.
I don't feel we'll go by the way of Italy. For one, other European countries like Germany and France will have to go that way well before the U.S. and secondly, private industry in our country are playing a bigger role in the testing and also finding a vaccine.
If the worse case scenario were to happen, Martial Law won't be out of the question.
We'll have to watch both the number of new cases after this testing blitz begins in the next week and then also see if the mortality rate rises at a similar rate.
I may be in the minority here, but I think commencement should be moved to a later date and not cancelled. I have lost touch with many people I went to school with. Same with graduate school. This is the last time you get to spend with these people and I still remember it. Another thing about undergrad is that unlike graduate school, there are no reunions. Even my honors program sub-group doesn't have them.
Not sure about everyone else, but I only have a network of around 20 college and 20 graduate school friends that I still keep in touch with (i.e. meet every now and then, attend weddings etc) beyond being facebook friends. The people you meet in the Umich network are great but they are not the ones you went to school with. I dunno, I don't think this should be taken away.