Class of 2021 Grads to be Honored in Virtual, In-Person Ceremonies
After a year made extraordinary by the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Duquesne University will honor members of its class of 2021 with a two-part approach to commencement that will include both virtual and in-person components.
Duquesne President Ken Gormley informed campus of the decision in March. “I’m pleased to announce that, through creative thinking and careful planning, the University team has arrived at a way to honor our May 2021 graduates in person with multiple diploma recognition ceremonies this spring, sized and designed so that safety practices will be in place,” Gormley stated in an all-campus email.
On Thursday, May 6, a 5 p.m. virtual Baccalaureate Mass will be followed by a virtual commencement ceremony for all graduates at 7 p.m., during which Gormley will address the class of 2021. Student representatives of the graduate and undergraduate classes will speak during the online ceremony, school deans will share remarks and a slide show will recognize students and their accomplishments. The recorded ceremony will mark the conferral of degrees for graduates.
A variety of smaller, in-person, individual degree-recognition ceremonies and observances will be held on campus on Thursday, May 6, Friday, May 7, and Saturday, May 8. The in-person events are limited to two guests for each graduating student and tickets are required for admittance. Each event will be live-streamed and available online.
Masking, social distancing and contact protocols will be in place. Only students graduating in May 2021 and their two guests may attend the in-person ceremonies.
“After working diligently together to earn a horizon-expanding education from Duquesne University, we’re thrilled to be able to provide the class of 2021 with in-person diploma ceremonies and events,” Gormley said. “Our beautiful, newly-renovated UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse will accommodate many of the ceremonies, and we thank our neighbors, the Pittsburgh Penguins, for graciously working with us so that we can hold some of our larger ceremonies safely at PPG Paints Arena.”
The commencement schedule of events, which is available online, includes the following:
- School of Nursing pinning ceremony: May 6 at 3 p.m. on Arthur J. Rooney Field
- Virtual School of Nursing diploma ceremony: Friday, May 7, at 9 a.m.
- Rangos School of Health Sciences diploma ceremony for physical therapy and physician assistant graduates: May 7 at 9 a.m. at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse
- Rangos School of Health Sciences diploma ceremony for athletic training, health management systems and speech language pathology graduates: May 7 at 11 a.m. at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse
- McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts diploma ceremony: May 7 at 11 a.m. at PPG Paints Arena
- Rangos School of Health Sciences diploma ceremony for biomedical engineering, occupational therapy graduates: May 7 at 1 p.m. at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse
- Palumbo-Donahue School of Business diploma ceremony: May 7 at 3 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena
- Bayer School of Natural and Environmental Sciences graduate student diploma ceremony: May 7 at 3 p.m. at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse
- Bayer School of Natural and Environmental Sciences undergraduate diploma ceremony: May 7 at 5 p.m. at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse
- Mary Pappert School of Music diploma ceremony: May 7 at 7 p.m. at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse
- School of Education undergraduate diploma ceremony: Saturday, May 8, at 11 a.m. at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse
- School of Education graduate student diploma ceremony: May 8 at 1 p.m. at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
Visit the University’s Commencement website for additional information, including details on how to RSVP for in-person ceremonies, retrieve tickets, diplomas, regalia and more. Live-streaming links will be added on the dates of each of the events.
Details will be shared in upcoming issues of The Duquesne Times about the Sunday, May 16, School of Law commencement and the Saturday, May 22, School of Pharmacy commencement.