Class of 2020 Graduation Ceremony Plans
Photo by Dorie Palmer
Last Monday, Hamilton announced their plans for the Class of 2020’s senior graduation ceremony. The plan was centered around the overwhelming desire of the senior class to keep the ceremony as normal as possible while still following social distancing guidelines in order to keep students and spectators safe. As of now, Hamilton plans to hold the graduation ceremony outdoors on July 24th at 6:00 p.m. Weather permitting, it will be held on Grove Field. The audience will be limited based on social distancing guidelines that are in place on the day of the ceremony. To make sure people can still experience the ceremony, no matter what the guidelines are, it will be live-streamed so family and friends can watch seniors graduate virtually. In the case of bad weather, the ceremony will be moved into the Fine Arts Center. If it is moved indoors, there will be no spectators allowed because there would not be enough space to maintain social distancing with all of the students and spectators.
Most seniors I surveyed seemed fairly happy with Hamilton’s adapted plan for the graduation ceremony. They seem to be glad that their graduation will be as normal as it can be, and that there will be an actual in-person ceremony. The one thing that some students reported that they wished could be a part of their graduation was the band or choir. Traditionally, both perform during the graduation ceremony, and some students wish that they could perform at theirs.
The majority of surveyed seniors seemed that they would be pretty disappointed if there was not a live audience at the ceremony. On a scale of one to five, with five being very disappointed about the lack of an audience, the average answer was two. Victoria Graf, a graduating senior, said that she would be disappointed because, “we worked so hard to get to this graduation, and it would be nice to have my family and friends watch me finally walk down the stage and grab my diploma.” This would be a sad reality, but there is not much Hamilton could do to change that because of social distancing guidelines. Even though the ceremony will take place well after the end of the school year, most seniors expect to be able to make it to the ceremony.
Though it is saddening that the end of the Class of 2020’s journey through traditional school won't be accompanied by a traditional graduation ceremony, the school has adapted as best as it can. The ceremony will be completed as normally as possible while still keeping students and spectators safe by following social distancing guidelines.
