University cites COVID for holding another off-campus spring graduation
For the second year in a row, California State University Long Beach will host its spring graduation again at Angel Stadium.
Part of the ceremonies will take place in the stadium parking lot.
For the second year in a row, California State University Long Beach (CSULB) will host its spring graduation again at Angel Stadium.
Graduation ceremonies will take place May 16-18 in a modified format. Some activities will occur in the parking lot of the Los Angeles Angels, the Orange County-based baseball team.
Greg Woods, the university’s director of news media services, told Campus Reform that the decision was based on positive feedback from last year’s ceremony at the same venue.
”After well-received Commencement ceremonies at Angel Stadium in 2021, we are returning to the venue in 2022 for another series of memorable, celebratory events this May,” Woods stated.
The university cites COVID for why students will not walk across the stage to hear their names be read aloud, The Orange County Register reports. Instead, students will have the opportunity to hear an automated machine read their names at a specified station outside of the stadium.
CSULB spokesperson James Milbury told The Orange County Register that “the stadium is a prudent selection to ensure no matter the status of the pandemic our students would have access to in person [sic] commencement ceremonies.”
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Last year, an online petition called “Give CSU Long Beach Students the Graduation They Deserve” garnered 1,226 in support of an in-person ceremony.
”The class of 2020/2021 has shown nothing but endurance, courage, and dedication,” the petition read.
”They have demonstrated real versatility in the face of a global pandemic and deserve to be recognized in person as the product of their years of perseverance and hard work,” the text continued.
This year’s ceremony will be live streamed.
