Indiana University announced plans to hold in-person, outdoor commencement ceremonies for all 2020 and 2021 graduates this May.
IU President Michael McRobbie informed students in an email Monday that family and friends may only attend virtually.
IU Spokesperson Chuck Carney said the university feels it can hold the events safely.
“Safe to say we feel like we have the mechanisms in place that we can do this safely, and make sure that all the participants are keeping each other safe,” Carney said. “And of course this is being done with our protocols that we’ve had in place for some time.”
Graduates interested in attending must fill out a form and undergo university COVID-19 testing requirements. Carney said more details, including testing protocols for the class of 2020, will be released once the university has an idea how many graduates plan to participate.
All plans are subject to change.
“May is still a little ways off, so we have to be sure things are continuing to go in the right direction,” Carney said. “But right now, they are going in the right direction.”
All seven IU campuses are coordinating events with county health departments and the university medical response team.
IU Bloomington is first, hosting the graduate ceremony on May 7 and undergraduate ceremony May 8. IUPUI is last, with ceremonies scheduled for May 15. A full list of dates is available on the commencement website (https://commencement.indiana.edu/).
