Plans for virtual Commencement for the Class of 2020

Dear Members of the Class of 2020:

Congratulations on completing this difficult semester and for all of your hard work and accomplishments these past four years.

The Class of 2020 Commencement Planning Working Group is delighted to announce that Skidmore will be holding a virtual Commencement ceremony to honor your accomplishments on Saturday, May 30 at 11:00 a.m. EDT.

The responses we received to the “Senior Commencement Feedback Survey” informed the design of this event. We learned from these responses that many of you wanted the virtual Commencement ceremony to have some live elements, to include an opportunity for you to participate in the event, and to recognize each graduate.

In response to this feedback, we have constructed a ceremony that has three elements.

Three live speakers:

• President Philip A. Glotzbach
• President of the Class of 2020 Jinan Al-Busaidi
• Jennifer C. Mueller, assistant professor of sociology and director of Skidmore’s Intergroup Relations Program, has been selected by the Class of 2020 as this year's faculty speaker.

A slide show of photographs submitted by members of the Class of 2020.

• Please submit photographs using the following email address: Commenc.v0dkr8v5ula233f9@u.box.com
• Feel free to add multiple photos. Images can include pictures of yourself in regalia or of you and your friends during your time at Skidmore.
• Students should label their image(s) with first and last names.
• It would be helpful to receive all photos by May 18.

A scroll that includes the names of all the graduates will appear at the conclusion of the ceremony.

Instructions for how you, your family, and your friends can view the virtual Commencement ceremony are forthcoming. The ceremony will also be recorded to allow those who cannot view the live feed to watch the ceremony at their convenience.

Those of you who have earned honor cords, stoles, Periclean Honors Forum medals, academic prizes, and other types of awards that are usually conferred either at Commencement or during Commencement Weekend will be receiving these items in a "Celebration Box" that will be mailed to your permanent home address on or around May 16. The principal reason why we chose the May 30 date for the virtual Commencement ceremony was that many of you told us that you would like these items delivered to you before the ceremony.

Your diplomas will be mailed to your permanent home address in a separate mailing.

Finally, we are close to finalizing the plan for your in-person (physical) Commencement. We hope to announce the date and elements of that event soon.

Thank you for your patience as we have worked to design the virtual Commencement ceremony on May 30 and continue to work to orchestrate your in-person (physical) Commencement.

Please do let us know if you have questions about any of the above.

Mariel Martin, Associate Dean of Student Affairs
Jinan Al-Busaidi, Senior Class President
Ron Seyb, Associate Dean of the Faculty