As the deadline to apply for graduation nears, students and parents have questioned whether a traditional commencement ceremony will be possible.

The spring commencement was converted to a virtual celebration when the in-person ceremony was canceled due to COVID-19. Vice President of Student Affairs Liz McCraw said a decision regarding this issue will be announced in the upcoming weeks.

“Right now we’ve got our date set for Dec 12. We have not made a determination about whether or not we will move to a virtual experience or have a face-to-face experience. We won’t be making that decision for at least another month, because we want to make sure we are able to hold it in a way that is best for the health and safety of our students and our campus population,” said McCraw.

Spring graduates are invited to participate in the upcoming graduation. “We’re looking at a couple of different options so that we can make sure we will be able to socially distance and see how many the facilities can actually hold,” McCraw added. “We told them in the spring that if we had a fall commencement they were invited to participate and that we would include them.”

Although it will likely be another month before the final decision is announced, McCraw made it clear that the achievements of all the graduates will be celebrated in some way, whether in person or online.