St. Clair County Community College (SC4) has cancelled this year’s graduation ceremony, scheduled for May 8. The Center for Disease Control has banned all gatherings of 50 or more people through May 8. The difficult decision adds the SC4 commencement to the growing list of cancellations that put an abrupt end to traditional college life this semester.
Currently, students are taking their classes online and the campus is closed. The college said in a statement on their dedicated CoronaVirus Update page that they will continue to honor the Class of 2020 graduates with a larger celebration in December that all the year’s graduates can attend. They are also hoping to be able to have a pinning ceremony for graduates of the nursing program in the summer.
Graduates will still get their degrees mailed to them. A similar story is being told at colleges and universities across the nation as students and their families, along with faculty and administration, are forced to adjust their expectations for the graduation season.
