Saint Xavier University’s commencement ceremonies for the 2020 spring semester have been postponed due to COVID-19. President Laurie M. Joyner, Ph.D. made the announcement to the community in an email on Monday March 23.
“As we navigate through this unexpected development, the Commencement Committee will work to assure good lead time for individual plans and arrangements to celebrate our graduates” Joyner stated in her message.
Erin Mueller, Associate Vice President for University Advancement states “Hundreds of family members, friends, community members, faculty and staff attend Commencement each year, many of whom are from more vulnerable populations.”
According to Mueller, SXU anticipates 858 students to be graduating during this year’s spring semester. SXU holds two commencement ceremonies each May; one for the College of Arts and Sciences and another for the school of Nursing and Health Sciences as well as the Graham School of Management. Both ceremonies are held on the same day with one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.
Some of the reasons factoring into SXU’s decision to postpone the ceremonies come from the Center of Disease Control, the Illinois Department of Public Health, and the Chicago Department of Public Health. Mueller said these departments suggested “limiting gatherings to ten people or less to curb its spread for at least the next eight weeks.”
Mueller elaborated that these departments divulged “that the nation’s peak of COVID-19 cases will be reached in late spring/early summer.”
Concern came not only from leadership but also from the community of SXU. According to Mueller, “Emergency Management Team (EMT), made up of personnel from across all campus offices, began meeting in early March to monitor the COVID-19 situation and to plan for contingencies based on recommendations from the CDC, IDPH and CDPH. As early guidance suggested limiting large-scale group activity, the EMT held conversations early on about Commencement.”
SXU is aware of the frustration and sadness resulting from postponement. Brian Loftus, graduating SXU student, expressed this sentiment by saying, “Speaking solely about [my] final semester here at SXU, I can say this [epidemic] has negatively affected it.”
Across the United States and around the world, schools and universities have shut their doors and have sent their students home.
Loftus continued, “Aside from the obvious love of being around my fellow colleagues, I must say I personally can’t help but feel that the class of 2020 got the short end of the stick.”
Mueller states, “We are fully aware of how meaningful Commencement activities are for our hard-working and deserving graduates. Indeed, graduation is a proud time for the entire University community as our faculty and staff have developed relationships with our students and have guided them toward their success. We closely monitored the COVID-19 situation and its potential trajectory before making the difficult decision to postpone.”
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