GRADUATION CONTROVERSY
Pandemic divisiveness spills over into whether to have grad ceremonies
Angel Queiro is surprised with a driveway graduation. For some, graduation ceremonies are a political battleground.
Keiv Soliman doesn’t want to receive his diploma joined onstage by a hologram of his principal.
But as the coronavirus continues to cast a shadow on American traditions, making large gatherings like graduation ceremonies dangerous, a virtual ceremony might be the Highland High School senior’s only chance at pomp and circumstance.
Soliman’s school, in Gilbert, is staging an elaborate virtual graduation ceremony, where Highland seniors are being filmed walking across a stage to receive their diploma.
Their principal read student names from a different room. Using “holographic technology,” video editors are editing the ceremony to make it appear as if everyone was in the same room together.
But Soliman’s friends don’t want a studio-produced graduation, he said. They want a real ceremony. Soliman started a petition, which has more than 600 signatures so far, asking for an inperson ceremony — with masks and social distancing.
“You can’t really replace the real thing with anything but the real thing,” Soliman said.
Graduation ceremonies have become a political battleground for schools, students and parents in the wake of school closures caused by the new coronavirus. Some believe they can have a ceremony safely while others are accusing the high-schoolers and their parents of being selfish during a global pandemic.
“This is much bigger than a graduation ceremony,” Reed Burris, a Gilbert resident opposed to in-person ceremonies, said. “You should be pushing for people to stay inside.”
Soliman’s petition is just one of several circulating around the state, pleading for the preservation of in-person
“It was definitely a little bit disappointing for a lot of us. But I think we were able to find some new traditions to uphold.” Lauren Geiselhofer
Student body president, Cactus Shadows High School, Cave Creek
ceremonies. Some seniors also made pleas directly to Gov. Doug Ducey in a video posted on Twitter.
“After enduring 12 hard years of school, I believe we deserve a day to be honored and recognized for our hard work,” one student says in the video.
The discourse shares similarities with the fervent protests staged in support and in opposition of reopening Arizona businesses, as well as the debate over the use of masks in public places, underscoring an increasingly fractured conversation around COVID-19.
Ducey’s stay-at-home order was to expire Friday. The governor is still encouraging social distancing, but nothing in his new order appears to forbid gatherings.
The Arizona Department of Health
Services recommended on Monday “that mass gatherings (such as graduations, concerts) are not held at this time.”
Even still, the agency outlined steps for attendees and organizers to take if they planned to forge ahead with a ceremony:
❚ Anyone sick should stay home.
❚ Attendees should stay 6 feet away from each other.
❚ Anyone in a high-risk group should not attend, including older adults and anyone with a serious underlying medical condition.
❚ Attendees should not touch their eyes, nose or mouth and should use hand sanitizer after leaving the event. They should also wash their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds upon returning home.
❚ Attendees should cover their face at the event.
❚ They should not borrow or rent graduation regalia.
Major Arizona school districts have either postponed ceremonies or have decided to hold virtual ceremonies.
Chandler Unified, the second-larg
est school district in the state, wrote to families on May 5 that the district is working on a plan to hold graduation ceremonies at each high school “while still adhering to the recommended CDC guidelines.”
At the ceremonies, students would be seated 6 feet apart and the audience would likely be limited. The ceremonies would be livestreamed for families to watch.
Some in Gilbert, including Soliman, have pointed to Chandler’s idea as a possible way to hold a ceremony.
Gilbert’s school board discussed the possibility in a meeting on May 5. Superintendent Shane McCord said the idea was worth a discussion, but added that there were still unknowns surrounding guidelines for big gatherings.
People in at least nine school districts across the state have started Change.org petitions to hold in-person graduation ceremonies.
After Ducey announced that businesses could start to reopen, a group of Arizona seniors made a video pleading for an in-person ceremony.
“There are ways we can make this happen,” one of the students in the video said. “We deserve a graduation.”
The video was posted on Twitter and received nearly 100 retweets. But some who responded to the tweet scoffed at the idea.
“You’re asking to put your friends’ parents at risk of dying so you can feel accomplished for a completely normal and baseline accomplishment,” one Twitter user responded.
Other students banded together to propose alternatives.
Lauren Geiselhofer, student body president at Cactus Shadows High School in Cave Creek, and nearly 200 other student body presidents from across the state united to plan something in place of prom and graduation.
They’ve reached out to entertainment companies to see if they can throw a prom later in the year, if it’s safe. Cactus Shadows seniors created an Instagram account for students to share their plans for the future.
“It was definitely a little bit disappointing for a lot of us,” Geiselhofer said. “But I think we were able to find some new traditions to uphold.”
Beth Obermeyer, who works with high school students at New Foundation Church in Goodyear, held driveway graduations for seniors.
Using a megaphone, church staff surprised students by showing up on their driveway and holding impromptu celebrations, 6 feet apart.
“We were trying to think of a way to make our high school seniors feel better because they’ve had such a rough spring,” Obermeyer said.
Some have said districts are being too cautious.
A group of Mountain View High parents in Mesa threw a senior salute parade for grads.
Seniors on May 16 lined up 6 feet apart on the sidewalk of a Mesa street for cars to drive by in celebration.
Destinee Mack, a parent and one of the event’s organizers, initially asked the district if parents could drop their students off in the high school’s parking lot so the students could safely line up.
Mesa Public Schools denied that request, Mack said. Mesa did not respond to a request for comment.
“I do think there’s a risk, but I do also think that if we follow the social distancing protocols ... I think we can still do this in a socially responsible way,” Mack said.