By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Despite having to move indoors due to inclement weather, Missouri Western State University officials are excited to be holding in-person graduation ceremonies this year after having to go virtual last year.
About 550 graduates from the fall of 2020, along with the spring and summer 2021 semesters, are expected to participate in the two ceremonies at Civic Arena Saturday.
Doug Davenport, provost and vice president of student and academic affairs, says the graduates are being split into two ceremonies due to COVID-19 safety precautions. One ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. and another at 3 p.m.
"That is part of our safety protocols," Davenport said, "so we don't have as many people together at one time. That decision had been made early on. Moving indoors, splitting the ceremonies into two parts becomes even more important."
Face masks will be required by all who are attending the ceremonies. Attendance is limited to invited guests only. Each graduate can invite up to six guests each.
While it's not the outdoor ceremony at Spratt Stadium that University leadership had envisioned, Davenport is grateful that the graduates and their families get the chance to celebrate in person this year.
"Everyone really wants an in-person celebration," he said. "We've all had our experiences with virtual celebrations, and those are okay. But, there's no substitute for an in-person commencement ceremony."
Ceremonies will be streamed online for those unable to attend in person.
Zora Mulligan, Missouri’s commissioner of higher education, will speak at both of the ceremonies. The 11 .a.m. ceremony will be streamed here, and the 3 p.m. ceremony here.
Graduating senior Briana Reed of Kansas City will also speak at commencement. A graduating convergent journalism major, Reed served in multiple leadership positions during her time at Missouri Western, including co-coach for the Missouri Western Dance Company, Secretary of Senate and Chief of Staff for the Student Government Association.
Missouri Western made the decision to move the ceremony indoors on Thursday. Davenport says the decision was a tough one, but they made it long enough in advance to give everyone the time needed to prepare.
"This gives us the ability to communicate with great clarity and certainty what's going on sooner rather than later," Davenport said. "This is of course not what we would have liked originally, but we are certainly excited that we're going to get to host an in-person ceremony."
Graduate students will also be honored during the Spring 2021 Master’s Hooding Ceremony at 7 p.m. Friday in the Fulkerson Center on Missouri Western's campus.
The guest speaker will be Aaron Dowis, who has earned three degrees from Missouri Western, including a Masters of Business Administration in 2020. The ceremony will be streamed live here.
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