DePaul continues to plan for an in-person commencement, past graduates will not be honored in this year’s celebration
FILE – In this May 17, 2018, file photo, new graduates line up before the start of the Bergen Community College commencement at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. There’s no single policy or action that will alleviate America’s $1.74 trillion student loan debt crisis while simultaneously preventing students from taking on unaffordable amounts of future debt. Higher education financing experts are divided on the exact combination of solutions, but all agree it will require a multipronged approach. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
This year, after two years of virtual commencement ceremonies as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, DePaul will again be honoring its graduating class at Wintrust Arena in 2022.
Riley Reed, a DePaul senior, has already registered for this year’s in-person commencement and is excited to be celebrating her college experience at this year’s ceremony.
“And I’m very excited. Sad that I’ll be leaving this chapter of my life behind, but college has been a really transformative and significant time of my life, so I’m excited to have an ‘official’ close to the chapter,” Reed said.
DePaul’s commencement ceremonies will be held on June 11 and 12 in Wintrust Arena while the College of Law graduation will be held at the Chicago Theatre on May 21.
Both ceremonies will also be live streamed. As a result of the pandemic, however, DePaul cautions that these arrangements could be subject to change.
According to Newsline, “Commencement plans may change as needed to promote the safety and health of the DePaul community.”
Currently, DePaul is mandating that ceremony guests, age 5 and older, show full proof of vaccination and must wear a mask inside, as required by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to DePaul, the graduating classes of 2020 and 2021 will not be honored at this year’s commencement ceremony.
“We recognize that the Classes of 2020 and 2021 were impacted by the pandemic in different ways than other graduating classes,” DePaul spokesperson Mary Hansen told the DePaulia. “The university safely celebrated those graduates with online ceremonies, and the Class of 2021 participated in the Graduation Celebration on both campuses.”
According to Hansen, the celebration included the opportunity to walk across a graduation stage in front of family and friends and photo opportunities around campus, including a 360-degree booth that simulated DePaul’s traditional graduation balloon drop.
Genera Alexandria, a 2020 DePaul graduate, was in the first class to experience an altered commencement ceremony as a result of the pandemic.
Alexandria did not attend the general commencement ceremony DePaul had online but went to the Lavender Graduation that was hosted by the Office of Multicultural Student Success. The event, Alexandria said, felt a lot more personal and was focused on interaction with DePaul’s LGBTQIA+ students.
Though Alexandria said she understands why DePaul can’t honor past graduates in this year’s commencement, she says she would go if they were able to honor 2020 and 2021 graduates.
“One day I was with everyone in my class, the next day I couldn’t see my friends and everyone was across the country,” Alexandria said.
She added that the end of her undergraduate degree felt unfinished because of how everything was shifted online in 2020.
“I finished. I have an expensive piece of paper but it doesn’t feel like it actually finished,” Alexandria said.
Reed said that the pandemic has only increased her desire for an in-person graduation ceremony.
“My brother was class of 2020 and seeing the disappointment he felt from not having one was really upsetting, so I have definitely hoped and wanted it to be in person,” Reed said.
DePaul students who want to participate in commencement must register in Campus Connect by April 27, 2022. That is also the deadline to place an order for graduation regalia.
