The class of 2020 at SUNY Plattsburgh has had their graduation ceremony rescheduled to December, which is eight months later. This will be after the excitement of graduation has faded and students will have already moved on with their lives.

The school has told students that in 8 months they’ll have to travel and take off of work to get the feeling of walking across the stage. The school has been inconsiderate by pushing this off for their convenience. Seniors have already had to mourn the loss of their last semester in school.

Our administration decided not to plan a separate ceremony for those who lost this experience. Instead, they added us into a ceremony they had already planned in the winter. There has been no known attempt to salvage some kind of celebration for these students this late summer. There are already students that know that because of this decision, they will never get to experience graduation due to their jobs or location.

We want SUNY Plattsburgh to plan a graduation ceremony in August. We know that this can be done, because other SUNY schools are already doing it. We are grateful that we are getting a ceremony, but are deeply heartbroken that they did not plan this sooner. They have disappointed all of us and we are all truly heartbroken.

Please sign is support of the 2020 seniors.

(Our hearts go out to those who have worked effortlessly in this pandemic and to those who have been affected. We in no way want to put out the message that our graduation is more important than people's safety.)