UHCL to host makeup commencement ceremony Dec. 4 at Minute Maid Park
UHCL will host a graduation ceremony for students who graduated virtually because of COVID-19 at Minute Maid Park Dec. 4.
Graduates from the class of Spring 2020, Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 are eligible to participate in this ceremony. The deadline to RSVP for the ceremony was Oct. 31.
“If you missed a graduation ceremony because it was done virtually because of the pandemic, then you are invited back to this graduation so you can have that moment of walking across the stage and receiving your degree, essentially having that experience you missed due to us being virtual,” said Joe Staley, vice president of University Advancement. “That’s a promise we made to our students who went through virtual graduation, so we’re delivering on our promise to have that event.”
Staley said Minute Maid Park has a capacity of 4,000 graduates. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, 3,600 UHCL students have graduated virtually. Students must RSVP to confirm their attendance.
“From the spring of 2020 and summer of 2020 and fall of 2020 and spring of 2021, there are roughly 3600 graduates in total,” said Bryan Heard, university registrar. “So that is how many we have invited back. Reports are saying we can expect roughly one third of that to return. That’s why we are asking students to RSVP.”
Staley said safety protocols will include areas marked off for families to sit, as well as recommended mask wearing. Heard said there are no plans to require vaccinations.
“We can’t do a vaccine requirement because we don’t have the ability to mandate such a thing,” Heard said. “We are taking RSVPs so we can get a sense of how many students are going to attend so we can ensure proper social distancing. Seats where students sit will be socially distanced. In terms of guests, based on the number of RSVPs we receive for guests, we will have social distancing for families based on groups. We are working on the details of that with Minute Maid. It all depends on how many people RSVP.”
Heard said there are 16,000 seats available for attendees to witness the graduation. He said he does not anticipate a limit on how many people can be invited.
“At this point I do not think we are going to have to limit because we chose such a large facility,” Heard said. “But if we have a large number of RSVPs, we may consider a limit.”
Heard said the length of the ceremony will depend on the amount of students who RSVP.
Currently there is no speaker planned for the graduation. Heard said this is in part because there were speakers at the virtual graduation ceremonies.
“Because these classes had speakers at their virtual graduations, we are not likely going to recreate that,” Heard said. “But we are still working on that.”
Students who graduated virtually have received both emails and text messages inviting them to experience the graduation they missed.
“If you had a graduation that was virtual, this is your day and this is for you,” Heard said.
