The University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering has announced that it is once again having an online graduation in Spring 2021. College graduation is a huge milestone event that celebrates all of the hard work that students have put into their education over the years. Many of us have dreamed of walking the stage whilst cheering on our peers; having learned, failed, succeeded, laughed, and grown together. 

An easy solution to this problem would be to host an in-person, outdoor graduation in TCF Stadium. The stadium holds just over 50,000 people. Per CDC and MDH guidelines, at 25% capacity, this would safely hold a 12,500 person graduation ceremony.  Roughly 1500 students graduate every year from CSE. If each student received 7 tickets, six for family and one for themselves, this would amount to 10,500 people which still leaves room for 2,000 staff and faculty. The University has pushed back against holding the ceremony in TCF due to a lack of funds to rent it from the Gopher Athletic Department. Over the course of four years, students have been required to pay a stadium fee of $6 each semester regardless of if they ever attend Gopher Games. With only the stadium fee from the 1,500 people graduating over the four years, this would be over $72,000. During non-Covid years, the University normally rents out Mariucci from the Athletic Department and holds the commencement ceremony at no extra cost to the students and families. We are proposing that the University holds the commencement ceremony at TCF Stadium, using the funds they would normally use for Mariucci plus keeping in mind the semesterly stadium fee that students are required to pay. In addition, a small fee could be charged for commencement tickets (i.e. $10/ticket) in order to help bridge the gap in costs of renting TCF bank over Mariucci. Although this amount would probably still not amass to the usual price of renting out the entire TCF Stadium, there is minimal interest in renting out a stadium of that size at the moment; therefore, renting the stadium for a day, even at a reduced rate, would still be beneficial to the Athletic Department. 

It was deeply dissapointing to hear that the Carlson School of Manegment will be having an in-person comencement ceremony while we will be having a virtual ceremony. While we recognize that Carlson is a smaller school than CSE, precautions can be taken to safely accommodate this larger group in-person. After talking with many of my peers, a virtual ceremony will just be a waste of time and money as many students will not even watch the ceremony. At the very least, a hybrid ceremony for those who feel comfortable coming in-person would be much appreciated.

Students are the heart and soul of the University and its associated athletic community. Without them, there wouldn't be the passionate Gopher Athletic fan-base that there is today. We are asking that the UMN Athletic Department consider assisting the class of 2021 in celebrating their graduation in an in-person format. This way the students can come full circle - from forming the Minnesota M on the Gopher field during Welcome Week to walking across a stage on the field during our last moments as Golden Gopher students. Ski-U-Mah! Go Gophs!