With the 2021 spring semester now in full swing, University of Rhode Island seniors are still waiting for information about this year’s graduation and commencement ceremony.
Vaccine rollout scheduling is still undetermined, which has been a problem for URI’s event committee. The committee remains unsure of what to do to satisfy students while keeping the community safe.
URI’s Assistant Director of Communications Dave Lavallee said that unprecedented steps are being taken to make plans for the ceremony. For example, URI has been looking at what other universities in the state and around the country are planning to do this spring.
“We’re working closely with the [URI] COVID-19 task force and Health Services,” Lavallee said. “There have been constant conversations with those parties.”
The University has said its main priority is to keep students and their families safe, but the planning for this year’s unique graduation has been a hot topic among faculty and students.
“Starting last year before the virtual recognition we had for graduation, I don’t think we’ve stopped talking about what we’re doing this spring,” Lavallee said. “We know that last spring was difficult because people wanted an in-person graduation, but we were really in the thick of it, and we just wanted to make sure we could get our semester finished and not let the disease really run rampant.”
Lavallee said now that the public has much more information about COVID-19 and URI has many new protocols in place to prevent the spread, such as rapid testing. Because of this, this year’s commencement ceremony will be looked at differently than last year’s no matter what the final outcome entails, according to Lavallee.
He also said that this is the most bizarre crisis URI has ever faced, because of how long the pandemic has lasted. This has also taken a toll on the planning process.
With the COVID-19 rate going down in Rhode Island and vaccinations slowly making their way out to the public, the URI event committee has been forced to wait on announcing their plans.
While many seniors hope for the virus to improve so that they can celebrate their college years with their peers and family members, others are anxious about the implications of an in-person ceremony.
Danielle Beatrice, a senior majoring in English with minors in philosophy and business, is one of the students who said they would not attend graduation if it were in person.
“I don’t think there should be a ceremony this year,” Beatrice said. “We’re still in a pandemic and it’s too dangerous. I don’t want anyone to get sick.”
Beatrice opted to take all online-only classes this semester in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and protect themselves and others.
“Students have invested so much time and effort into their education that they deserve to be recognized,” Beatrice said. “We are just living through a tough time and we need to adapt to it accordingly and act responsibly.”
Beatrice suggested that the University could host a virtual commencement ceremony instead of an in-person event. She hopes that the administration may read out the names of the students graduating, potentially live or on air somewhere.
Students are still waiting to know whether or not the ceremony will be in person, but Lavallee has reassuring words.
“Everybody at URI wants to have the best celebration we can have,” said Lavallee. “We want to do everything we can to provide a great experience. We should have some communications on this not too far from now. [We’re] doing everything we can to really deliver as great a ceremony as we can.”