Graduation is a right of passage for many students here at Norfolk State University. Spring 2021 graduation is quickly approaching. Yet with the COVID-19 virus still looming we have not yet heard from the school administration concerning graduation. We as a student body believe that the University can host a commencement ceremony that coincides with the CDC guidelines. This can only be achieved if there is a plan enacted in a sufficient amount of time. 

As a student body, we have designed several options that we feel the school administration could execute in order to have an in person graduation. 

Option 1: 

Host commencement outside in the stadium which holds a capacity of 30,000 people. Divide the graduates by last name: A-J, K-T, and U-Z . Three ceremonies ensure students and staff have plenty of space to socially distance the chairs on the field. The three ceremonies could occur within one day with time allotted between for sanitation purposes. Graduates with last names A-J could walk from 8-10 AM, K-T 11-1, and U-Z from 2-4. Since the stadium holds 30,000 people, each student would be limited to 10 tickets per graduate. The tickets given to the graduate would designate where their guests would sit within the stadium. Sections will be taped off to enforce CDC guidelines of six feet. 

*This option could also be broken down by departments/majors as well. 

Option 2:

Commencement would be over a span of 3 days. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Students would be assigned a day to graduate. For example, graduates with the last name A-J can graduate on Friday, graduates with the last name K-T graduate Saturday, and U-Z graduate Sunday. Each student would have a limited amount of tickets that could be given out. The tickets given to the graduate would designate where their guests would sit within the stadium.

Option 3: 

The students could have one graduation. However, instead of guests being in the stadium they could reserve seats in Brown's auditorium, NGE auditorium, room 143 in the student union, and Wilder. Each location could have the graduation live streamed. 

These ideas are just a few of the suggestions I gathered from the student body. Students who have graduated in December 2020 and the future graduates of Spring 2021 deserve to walk. We urge President Javaune Adams-Gaston and the board of visitors to come up with a comprehensive plan if they have not done so already.