Raleigh Hutchison | News Editor

Recently President Dorman has announced that the class of 2021 May and August graduation ceremonies will be held in four small ceremonies.

“These ceremonies have been tailored to include the most important parts of commencement while taking steps to protect the health and safety of our graduates, guests, and staff,” Dorman said in an email to faculty and the graduating class.

Ceremonies will be limited to 30 students with each allowed four guests. Following tradition, students’ names will be called and they will walk the length of the stage and photographs will be available for family members.

The ceremonies will be held for the class of 2021 bachelor degree candidates the first and second weekends of May, totaling 12 separate ceremonies. GC’s May, August and December classes of 2020 are invited to experience an official graduation experience as well since their graduation was cancelled last spring. Class of 2020 graduates have been offered a similar graduation ceremony at the end of April. The ceremonies will be divided by graduate and undergraduate students, but students are able to pick the time that works best for their schedules.

According to GC’s website their attendees will be asked to physically distance the entire time. There will be no processional or handshakes. Temperature checks will be required upon entry and face coverings are required. Families and graduates are also asked to wear their masks in photos as well.

Kay Anderson informed WGUR that the ceremonies will be held in the Centennial Center where guests will be socially distanced. Between each ceremony surfaces will be wiped down, and a traffic flow will be initiated to ensure no one is running into each other.

Anderson confirmed that students who are not able to attend this spring’s graduation or who feel unsafe attending are welcomed to attend a graduation on a future date.

In the recent documents shared from the March 26 meeting of the University Senate, President Dorman and Provost Spirou said “there will be no audience or faculty participation, and only a small number of staff will be on hand to manage the event.”

The university is working hard and paying close attention to the rapid vaccine distribution across the country as we move further into 2021, hoping the pandemic can come to a close soon.

“We hope past and present graduates will take advantage of these ceremonies. We are very excited to be able to offer these 48 ceremonies to our students! I would also encourage all departments across campus to consider hosting small, socially distanced events for their graduates,” Dorman and Spirou closed their University of the Senate meeting with.

Students concerned with more technical details can find information at https://www.gcsu.edu/graduation.