In Person or Virtual? Covid Complicates College Commencements

With vaccinations on the rise, many colleges are planning in-person commencements, sowing frustration on campuses sticking to online ones.

Her first reaction after receiving the email from the University of Tampa announcing that commencement would be conducted online was to cry. Up and down the spine of Florida, larger colleges were announcing plans for in-person graduations — so why not hers? Then 22-year-old Allison Clark dried her tears and turned to Instagram, asking her followers: If Tampa hosted an in-person graduation, would they attend? When 80 percent of the respondents said “Yes,” she and two classmates created a GoFundMe and started selling tickets. They were quickly overwhelmed as classmates and their parents pitched in more than $25,000 — significantly more than the $12,000 price tag for the convention center they are renting for their self-funded graduation, now scheduled for next week. There will not be too many do-it-yourself graduations, but across the country parents and graduates will confront commencements in May that are as atypical, modified and sometimes contentious as the past school year has been.