By Shelbi Mulcahy
Bellarmine President Dr. Susan Donovan has announced the official details for commencement ceremonies, which will be held on May 7 and 8in Freedom Hall. There will be multiple ceremonies on both days.
The plans are to recognize all 2020 and 2021 doctoral graduates from 2 to 4 p.m. and all 2020 bachelor’s and master’s degree recipients from 7 to 9 p.m. on May 7.
Class of 2021 graduates who are in Nursing and Clinical Sciences and the College of Health Professions will be recognized from 9 to 11 a.m. on May 8.
All 2021 bachelor’s and master’s graduates in Education, Business, and Movement and Rehabilitation Sciences, and graduates with a Master of Arts in Communication and Master of Science in Digital Media will be recognized from 2 to 4 p.m. on May 8, with all 2021 bachelor’s degree recipients in the Bellarmine College of Arts and Sciences being recognized from 7 to 9 p.m.
A virtual option to attend graduation will be available for those students who don’t feel comfortable attending the ceremony in person. All ceremonies will be live streamed, and the students’ names and degree information will be announced.
Now that the plans are set, will students and faculty attend?
“As an alumni graduate student, time has affected my decision in attending,” Joe Simon said. “The farther away you get from graduation, it is not as exciting and people won’t want to participate, especially those 2020 graduates.”
Said Lexi Wingfield, class of 2021: “I fully intend on walking at graduation, but I will say I am not very happy with the current agenda. As a fellow biology major, my scheduled graduation ceremony will be 7 to 9 p.m., and it is upsetting that I will not be able to walk with all my friends in other majors.”
Mark Lanham, class of 2020, said he does not plan to attend graduation.
“I don’t plan on attending graduation. A year has already passed since I have been out of school, and I am now set into my new career life that graduation isn’t something I really care to attend anymore,” he said.
Savannah Smith, a 2020 graduate, said she will attend because she thinks every college graduate should be able to walk across a stage and celebrate earning a degree.
“I think graduation symbolizes closure of one chapter in life and the start of the next chapter, and even though I have been working for about a year, I still want my official closure,” Smith said.
Tim Adrian, class of 2021, does not plan to attend commencement ceremonies.
“I don’t like how we are all split up into different times, so I would rather stay home and celebrate with my friends and family,” Adrian said.
Mary Huff, dean of Bellarmine College, will attend.
Huff said: “I will be attending three of the ceremonies so that I can ensure that I am there to celebrate all students who have earned a degree from our school. This includes the ceremony to honor our 2020 graduates who were unable to celebrate during the pandemic. I feel that this group was cheated out of the experience last year, and I can’t wait to welcome them back.”
Kyle Barnett, associate professor of communications, will also be attending commencement.
“I’m the graduate chair in the department of communication, so I’ll likely prioritize those events that celebrate our graduate students in the Master of Arts in Communication and Master of Science in Digital Media programs,” Barnett said.
Assistant professor Julia Senn-Reeves said she will attend the 7 p.m. May 7 commencement ceremony to celebrate Anderson Reeves, her son.
“It is also important for me to have the opportunity to see the 2020 nursing graduates and congratulate them on their hard work,” she said.
Students who plan to attend commencement must RSVP no later than April 13.
Each student will also receive five tickets for guests to attend. There will be a $10 fee for parking.