The following message was shared by the Provost's Office to the Juniata College Class of 2020 at 2:17 p.m. on March 24, 2020.
Dear Class of 2020,
I wanted to update you on our plans to honor your graduation. I regret deeply that we won’t be able to hold commencement exercises as scheduled on Saturday, May 16th, 2020. However, I want to assure you that you will graduate in May. The faculty will vote to confer your degrees as scheduled on May 14th. We will issue your diplomas soon thereafter.
President Troha and I also want to let you know that we are committed to a celebration on campus to mark this momentous occasion at a later date. Graduating from college is a significant milestone. Completing your college education under the extraordinary conditions of this semester is truly a feat that deserves to be recognized, honored, and celebrated. We are hopeful it can take place by late July but it’s too early to commit to that with all the uncertainty surrounding covid-19. I promise to let you know once a date is firm.
Mostly, I want to assure you that it is important to us to welcome you back to campus as soon as we are able so that we can celebrate your accomplishments as a community and greet you as Juniata alumni. I understand that a belated commencement ceremony will not replace all that has been lost with the move to remote instruction…various traditions won’t be honored and enjoyed as you had hoped and expected. We grieve the loss of those experiences such as Liberal Arts Symposium, senior salute, senior week, and baccalaureate with you. I do want you to hear, though, that you are very much part of Juniata and always will be. Having a celebration on campus – and what a festive moment it will be when we can gather on the campus – is very important to us and we are committed to an in person commencement exercise as soon as is humanly possible.
In the meantime, I hope this finds you and the people you care about safe and well.
Sincerely,
Provost Bowen
Lauren Bowen, Ph.D.
Provost
Professor of Politics