UHCL decision to host online graduation received with student opposition

Before Spring 2020, UHCL hosted in-person commencement ceremonies. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, UHCL hosted the Spring and Fall 2020 commencements virtually. 

A March 12 email from UHCL announced its decision to host the Spring 2021 commencement online May 16 at 10 a.m. with the Soaring Hawks Parade later the same day at 4 p.m. Graduating students are now pushing back on this decision.

“We got the news that we were not going to be able to walk, we were going to have it virtual. And something literally snapped like happened where I was outraged that they didn’t include student voices in this conversation. It felt very parental like they were going to make a decision for us without giving us the opportunity to express how we felt,” said Erica Solis, social work major.

Thereafter Solis created a petition March 13, which aimed to change UHCL administrators’ decision to host the ceremony online. As of April 9, the petition has 1,673 signatures and 64 comments with opinions about why the ceremony should be in person.

“When my friend came and told me about this I was like ok we need to say something, we need to actually try to create a petition and see if we can get this moving forward because if all these other events can go on on campus like The Big Event or even the Halloween event that happened last semester y’all can’t make graduation happen outside or in a parking lot, that just seems very hypocritical to me,” said Lisa Jatta, biology major with a concentration in cell and molecular biology.

Jatta further added that the fighting spirit behind pushing for commencement to be in-person is because it has been a difficult year and the ceremony could serve to boost student morale.

Solis, Jatta, Vanessa Delgado, biological science major, and Jenna Schaub, communications major, appeared in a March 19 video calling for an in-person commencement ceremony. Solis also contacted local news networks and got the story covered by ABC 13.

“I reached out to Channel 13 and that’s how Steve Campion got on the story. It was really cool because I have reached out to them before and they never cover our stuff so this was really cool, it was unexpected. And then 104.1 KRBE also picked up the petition and the story and highlighted it on the radio station as well,” said Solis.

Despite student efforts to hold the ceremony in-person, UHCL maintained their decision to have a virtual ceremony. A March 18 Statement on Spring 2021 Virtual Commencement on the UHCL website stated that although an in-person ceremony is preferable, it will have to be virtual because Harris County’s COVID Threat Level is at Level 1.

During the March 23 SGA meeting, Vice President of Student Affairs Aaron Hart explained that the compromise for having a virtual commencement ceremony is with the Soaring Hawks Car Parade. This parade is an in-person celebration where students can drive through campus wearing their graduation regalia. Faculty, staff and administrators cheer on the graduates as they drive by.

Bryan Heard, UHCL registrar, said that they have and continue to look for student feedback in regards to the Soaring Hawks Car Parade.

“We understand that students and their families are disappointed at not being able to celebrate commencement in person,” Heard said. “Commencement is a major milestone and celebration for students and their families, faculty, staff and alumni at UH-Clear Lake, and we share their disappointment at not being able to celebrate in our traditional way.” 

Heard mentioned that because of the facts related to the pandemic and their responsibility to protect the health and safety of students, employees and alumni the decision was made by President Ira Blake. Blake made the decision with counsel from the university’s Emergency Manager, Core Leadership Team, Pandemic Section Chief Task Force, the Office of the Governor and the Centers for Disease Control. 

Similar to UHCL, UHD’s Spring 2021 commencement ceremony is also virtual. However, UHD waived the $50 graduation registration fee for students ordering one copy of their diploma.

On the other hand, UH Main’s commencement ceremony includes a virtual and an in-person component. The website states the ceremony will be socially distant and graduates can only receive up to four tickets.

Mark Denney, vice president of administration and finance, mentioned that although having the ceremony virtually allowed them to avoid some costs, there were also other additional costs. 

“At present, The Division of Strategic Enrollment Management has not identified in total, that their costs have sufficiently changed, keeping in mind – the fee is collected continually, and funding for specific graduation events are not limited to fees collected within a specific time period, any savings experienced in the short term, enable keeping the graduation application fee from increasing in future years,” Denney said. “For these reasons, Enrollment Management is not presently planning to make a waiver of the graduation fees, but they continue to monitor costs and reassess as they move forward.”

“And the fact of the matter still, even after President Blake issued this last statement saying it was for our health, the fact of the matter remains students’ voices were excluded,” Solis added.

During the SGA meeting, Hart mentioned that moving forward they would like to include SGA and the senators to discuss graduation and involve the student voice.

Bryan Heard said that they expect to hold an in-person commencement in Fall 2021 and graduates from 2020 and Spring 2021 can participate if they choose to. The Office of the Registrar along with university leadership and the UHCL Alumni Association will work together to develop a system for alumni to communicate if they want to participate in a future in-person ceremony.

“I still think they should think about the decision they made and how it affects their students. We did all we could do, emailed people, we were on the news. We’re just trying to get the message out because we know that this is such a huge event for people and their families like this is a moment, when you walk across the stage and you see your son or your daughter with their diploma and they look at you, it’s like ‘oh my god’ we’ve sacrificed so much just to make this happen.’ And I don’t think they are really sitting with that and understanding why we went so hard to have an in-person commencement but it is what it is,” Jatta said.

Editors Note:  Jenna Schaub appeared in the video and currently serves as a reporter for The Signal. The Signal Editorial Board encourages on-campus student participation by The Signal staff members. However, the paper has not commented on the university’s choice for the commencement ceremony. Opinions expressed by Schaub are her opinions and not representative of those of The Signal.