LIU Post Plans Virtual Graduation; Some Students Aren't Happy

Patch
·4 min read

This article originally appeared on the Glen Cove Patch

BROOKVILLE, NY — The commencement ceremony for students in the class of 2020 at Long Island University's Post campus will look a little different this year than the traditional pomp and circumstance — and not everybody is happy about it. On Monday, university president said commencement ceremonies will be held virtually to minimize the spread of the new coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 disease.

"This difficult decision was made after much deliberation and in response to the recommendations and mandates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, health and government agencies,” Kimberly Cline, the president of the university, told students in an email Monday.

The news, however, hasn’t set well with graduating seniors like, Adam Pilzer, who recently launched a Change.org petition to demand an in-person commencement ceremony, even if that means having it at a much later date.

“We worked hard for our degrees and to get told that we would be having a commencement ceremony virtually, we were angry,” Pilzer told Patch. “Many schools have decided to delay commencement to a later date when the coronavirus pandemic eventually ends.”

LIU Post's virtual ceremony will honor the class of 2020 on Wednesday, May 20, Cline said. Invitations will be emailed to graduates by Friday, April 10, though the logistics still have to be worked out. Pilzer said he understands the university is trying to keep students safe, but that a virtual commencement is not the same as the real thing.

"You only graduate from college once," he said. "LIU Post was supposed to have their commencement May 8 and LIU Brooklyn on May 20. They're now having one virtual commencement ceremony combining all of LIU."

So far, more than 1,000 students have signed the petition in less than 24 hours. Several students who signed it said rather than have a virtual commencement ceremony, they want to push the original one back to June or July.

“I’ve spent too many hours and money and time and hard work at LIU to NOT have a ceremony. We deserve SOMETHING BETTER than a virtual ceremony, even if it’s over the summer I don’t care,” one student posted. “We will NEVER get this experience back for our undergrad- some being the first of family’s to ever graduate college. Come up with a better solution. Don’t rob us of this moment we worked so hard for.”

“I’m the first in my family, out of five, to actually graduate. My mother and father deserve to see me walk to get my diploma. I did this for them and myself,” one student posted.

It’s Pilzer’s goal that once the petition collects 1,500 signatures, it’ll send a clear message to school officials that many students want to graduate the old-fashioned way.

In response to the petition, the school issued the following statement to Patch on Tuesday:

In an effort to protect the health and safety of our students, their families, alumni, and our employees, we moved this year’s Commencement to a virtual ceremony to honor the Class of 2020 on Wednesday, May 20th. Like many other universities around the country, this difficult decision was made in response to the recommendations and mandates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), health and government agencies. Since we do not know how long the COVID-19 pandemic or the New York ‘stay at home’ order will last, the University wanted to ensure our graduates were recognized for their accomplishments at the end of this semester. Additionally, the University knows how important graduation is to our students, so we are planning a special in-person celebration for 2020 graduates during Homecoming Weekend, to be held Friday, October 16th through Sunday. October 18th. Details will be solidified in the near future.

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