For the past two semesters, SUNY Oswego, like many other public universities have held virtual graduations due the COVID-19 pandemic. For seniors graduating last spring, many were deflated to have their graduation ceremony stripped from them in an abrupt announcement that students would be finishing up the semester remotely. As the year progressed, classes commenced on campus and vaccinations started to become more widely available, many hoped for an in-person ceremony to commemorate their higher education achievements this May.
In a one sentence email sent out to seniors, it was announced by SUNY Oswego in late February that there would be an in-person graduation ceremony held in May. Without any follow-up until approximately a month and a half later, students were then notified as of April 6, that commencement would consist of seven ceremonies over the course of the weekend May 14-16 with one taking place on Friday and three taking place on both Saturday and Sunday. According to an email with the subject “Get Ready for Commencement!” sent out April 9, Friday’s ceremony is “Likely to be dedicated to post Master’s certificate of advanced study, Master’s degree and the graduate certificate candidates,” therefore narrowing the count to six ceremonies for undergraduates. It was shortly announced afterward that students would be allowed to register two guests to be present for their ceremony and that an eighth ceremony would be added.
Stated in the April 14 email, there would only be a maximum of 125 participants per ceremony to accomodate guests for the graduates. This would result in an estimated 875 undergraduate participants and a maximum of 1,000 graduates total, a number that does not include any Computer Technology Services personnel or coverage provided by said faculty and WTOP-10 TV necessary in order to stream the events. With approximately 1,500 students eligible for graduation, not only did the school intend on many students opting to forego a ceremony, but it also failed to communicate alternate plans for graduation date and times.
The Commencement website extension for May 2021 had crashed and provided a series of difficulties for students trying not only to register a ticket for a ceremony, but also trying to register guests. With the recent transition of turning the Marano Campus Center Arena into a gym and space for students to exercise, they have also not seemed to take into consideration the amount of time and manpower it would take on behalf of custodial and other staff to actually empty the arena, continuously sanitize it and have it all wired and ready for the big weekend. With what could easily be over a week-long process, it is guaranteed that many students would not be happy with the removal of the gym equipment during the last week of classes and finals as an outlet for stress during final exams and projects, especially after its delayed opening on one of two “wellness days” graciously granted by the school in lieu of spring break. This just goes to show, once again, how once again, the school did not consider all students and the importance of physical and mental health.
Facts and feelings aside, as one who considered their past four years well spent, it does not negate that especially within the past year what a turbulent college experience this has been. Between having to prepare for a near nonexistent job market, having to deal with shallow attempts at addressing mental health and burnout from academia with negligent behavior toward student wellbeing, a majority of less than understanding professors and an on average over $50,000 spent toward degrees despite scholarships and loans, perhaps many students realize that there is not all that much to celebrate after all.
Photo from Flickr
