The following message was sent to all graduating seniors and graduate students on 4/1/20:
Dear May Graduates:
I promised to provide an update on Commencement planning by April 6. With the latest directives from federal and state officials extending event restrictions to at least April 30 and projections that COVID-19 impacts will extend into May, it seems best at this point to officially postpone our in-person graduation ceremonies that were originally scheduled for May 7 and May 8.
We remain committed to recognizing your achievements and celebrating with your family, friends, and classmates. It means a lot to us to see you get the recognition you have earned as a graduate of the Colorado School of Mines and to provide an opportunity for you, your friends and families to gather and celebrate.
We continue to discuss options, but wanted to let you know about one alternative that is already available to you, and other possibilities that we will seek your input on:
- First, as a May 2020 graduate, you will have the opportunity to walk in one of the next two regularly-scheduled ceremonies, in either December 2020 or May 2021.
- Second, if there is sufficient interest, we are considering moving the May Commencement ceremony that you would have graduated in to a mid- to late-summer date, and include all students who complete their degree programs this summer.
- Third, even though we won’t be able to physically gather in early May, we still feel it’s important to celebrate the official completion of your degree programs in May. We have been looking into virtual platforms that offer creative options for doing this, and have chosen May 8 as the day when we will have virtual ceremonies for both our undergraduate and graduate students. We will be sharing more details with you on that in the coming weeks. No, it’s not the same as an in-person celebration, but we can be creative and let’s have some fun with it.
You are welcome to participate in all three celebrations (virtual ceremony May 8, In-person ceremony December 2020 or May 2021, summer celebration TBD) as your plans and schedule permit.
Congratulations in advance of your degree completions (in only a few weeks!) I, and others in the Mines Community, look forward to celebrating your great accomplishment.