IUPUI Postpones Spring Commencement

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When IUPUI senior Hannah Boswell went to classes the week before spring break, she didn’t know it was the last time in her college career that she would see her closest friends and professors.


She didn’t know that the coronavirus would sweep the globe, taking tens of thousands of lives and forcing tens of millions to self-quarantine as businesses and schools closed


On March 15, IU president Michael McRobbie announced that all IU campuses would suspend face-to-face classes and transition to virtual learning for the remainder of the semester. Less than a week later, IU postponed all spring commencement ceremonies after heeding the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention


“Current guidance from the CDC, restrictions on large gatherings, and our own focus on health and safety make it impossible to hold these cherished traditional events as scheduled,” president McRobbie said in a message to the IU community. 


Nearly seven thousand IUPUI seniors will graduate this spring without a commencement ceremony. Seniors now face the hardships of a pandemic and discouragement of a postponed commencement.







Boswell, a communications major with a theatre certificate, said it was “a shame” that seniors won’t be publicly recognized in May for their hard work. 


“Commencement is like the applause at the end of the show that gives the performer the reason, the drive and the motivation to work,” Boswell said. “For a lot of people, that’s lost now.” 


Natalie Givan, a senior journalism major, expressed both disappointment and support for the school’s decision to postpone commencement. 


“I was really sad when I found out,” Givan said. “But I think it was necessary, and our health and safety is what’s most important.”  


The coronavirus pandemic took a toll on seniors’ academic and personal lives during a season that’s often full of hope and celebration. Financial burden increased for IUPUI students—41 percent of which came from low-income backgrounds according to institutional research. Many lost their jobs or worked in essential industries such as food supply where they faced a higher risk of contracting the virus.


Others were ordered to move off-campus and return home. This was easier said than done for students who had no homes or came from abusive households. International students also faced logistical challenges of getting home such as travel restrictions and expenses.


Still others experienced worsened mental illness from stressors related to the coronavirus and separation from on-campus support systems. A recent article by the Psychiatric Times said college students were uniquely vulnerable to anxiety and depression in public health emergencies. Social isolation and limitations of remote psychiatric care compounded these symptoms.







Mental health problems were also exacerbated by sadness and frustration over a postponed commencement. Boswell said these were “valid emotions for seniors to experience.


I think people should be allowed to mourn the loss of a momentous occasion that’s really important to them,” Boswell said.


Despite adversities, isolation and a postponed commencement, seniors still plan to commemorate their accomplishments at IUPUI. Givan will celebrate with her family, and Boswell will get a tattoo of ancient Greek architecture to represent her education in theatre and classical studies. 


“I thought the tattoo would be a nice commencement of my own,” Boswell said. 


In uncharted times, IUPUI seniors don’t know when they’ll get the chance to march across stage and receive their hard-earned diplomas, but they trust that the day will come. 


“If commencement is pushed back by a couple months, so be it,” Givan said. “I’ll still walk across that stage.” 




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