St. John’s College holds graduation — in empty room
“When I present the awards to the students it is a real connection. So this was hard because I have each one of them in mind and I am thinking about them.”
St. John’s College Dean Joseph Macfarland
Turns out, giving speeches to an empty room is different.
St. John’s College held an online commencement Sunday from inside McDowell Hall in Annapolis, one of the first colleges in Maryland to hold a virtual graduation for the coronavirus class of 2020. The 120 seniors and graduate students were spread across the country watching a new take on the old cap and gown tradition.
President Pano Kanelos and Dean Joseph Macfarland live-streamed their speeches to the class and then turned to tutor Margaret Kirby, whose commencement address speech was prerecorded and played in Youtube. After Kirby’s address, Macfarland and Associate Dean Emily Langston read out the names of students receiving undergraduate and graduate degrees — also recorded and played on Youtube.
“I really miss not having the students here, when we do commencement we are all gathered in this hall,” Macfarland said. “WhenIpresent the awards to the students, it is a real connection. So this was hard because I have each one of them in mind and I am thinking about them.
“Wish it could have been in person, but it makes me proud of this senior class and all that they have accomplished.”
Many colleges and high schools will follow the example set Sunday by the small liberal arts college, which has been offering an education based on the study of great works of Western civilization since 1937. The college was founded in 1696.
Graduations and much of life, in general, has been upended by the spread of the coronavirus, a pandemic that has killed 80,000-plus in the United States.
The Naval Academy is next. Its first-class midshipmen will begin getting their diplomas and officer commissions Monday. Groups of roughly 200 will have private ceremonies throughout the week, with the end result released to the public as a video intended to follow the pattern of a full commissioning ceremony.
House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer will give a recorded commencement address May 22 to the graduating class at the University of Maryland, College Park. Like those at St. John’s, students will follow along with online.
Kanelos called the loss of the ceremony in Annapolis “sort of devastating.”
“Our students have been with us for four years,” he said. “We are celebrating, we won this battle and we have continued to do what is important to us. We can’t be together in the same place, but we can be together at the same time.”
The decision to switch to an online ceremony meant the loss of some traditions beyond the cap and gown ritual.
St. John’s seniors usually have a final dinner together.
“I know the seniors are missing that, so we are going to try and host something like that in the future,” Kanelos said, shedding tears as he talked about the class.
Classes at the college shifted to online courses instead of the normal small discussions led by tutors. The annual St. John’s croquet match with their cross-street rivals, the Naval Academy, was canceled.
St. John’s never had online courses, before this spring. The college had to sort it out in a few days.
“For St. Johns, this remoteness, this distance has been very challenging, but our students have risen to that,” Kanelos said.
He praised students and faculty for getting through it with grace, dignity and hard work.
“What we are missing is that our classes are a small part of our education; those discussions that travel outside classrooms to dorms and cafeterias are essential,” Kanelos said.
There were no in-person goodbyes to classmates, tutors and, for many, life in Annapolis.
“It is going to be a little hard on them” Kanelos said. “For the students, it is a right of passage that they value so much he final moment together before dispersing,
There was at least one positive outcome of virtual graduation. The college keeps its normal graduation small, but this year all family members were able to attend.
“In some ways, it is more inclusive than we would normally see,” Kanelos said. “There is no limitation, people can be here and more extended family and friends can be in attendance.”
School officials are planning an inperson celebration for the spring graduates during the fall homecoming.
The college handed out a number of awards for achievement in arts and letters Sunday as well as diplomas, including the Charles Veron Moran Prize for visual arts and the Walter S. Baird prize for arts, literature and science. Two students, Kesi Emioly Dremel and Ruben Irving Morris, were recognized for their contribution to the Annapolis community and its youth.
“This is a good class and no words can sum them up,” Macfarland said.
As the ceremony closed, the bell at the top of McDowell Hall rang for each of the 120 graduates. Students ring it when they finish their senior essays before spring break.
“It has been a real team effort,” Kanelos said. “The staff have poured their hearts in to figure out how to have a ceremony that would honor our students the best we can.”