San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
TRADITION RETURNS AT CSUSM
Thousands of students who graduated in 2020, 2021 gathered on campus for weekend ceremonies
Eric Sy wasn’t expecting to spend more than a quarter of his college experience inside his family’s home in Rancho Bernardo.
But that’s where the 22-yearold computer science major at Cal State San Marcos spent much of 2020 and 2021, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.
So it was a bit surreal for Sy and the several thousand fellow graduates who massed at the university’s track and field site Saturday in their black caps and gowns. The graduation ceremony marked the first time most of the classmates had stepped foot on the campus — or gathered in person — since before the health emergency shut things down in March 2020.
“I literally spent a year of my life in my bedroom,” Sy said. “My internship with Northrop Grumman was also on the computer, so everything for me was remote.
Throwing my hat in the air today, it still doesn’t feel real.”
The weekend of graduation ceremonies at the North County campus delivered all the usual pomp-and-circumstance, celebrating the transition from student to professional. But in many ways it also symbolized a return to normalcy as the country continues to loosen restrictions and the widescale threat of the novel coronavirus begins to fade.
Colleges around San Diego
County are following suit. University of San Diego has been holding in-person ceremonies this weekend and last, while San Diego State University will graduate students in person at Petco Park in the middle of the coming week. UC San Diego and Point Loma Nazarene University plan to hold in-person ceremonies in June.
The commencements are also providing a do-over opportunity for many of last year’s graduates,
who weren’t able to walk across a stage as ceremonies were canceled. Instead, they had to make do with a drivethru parade.
Sy’s girlfriend, Sara Kim, was among many who graduated in 2020 — she with a degree from CSUSM in computer science — and wanted the experience of an authentic commencement. On Saturday, she was thrilled to run into some of her friends, as well as classmates she’d only seen on Zoom.
“It’s been truly great to be back on campus,” Kim said.
The university held another parade on Friday for those with concerns about gathering in person at Mangrum Track & Field for the weekend’s five ceremonies, in which about 3,000 students were expected to participate.
In all, school officials said it graduated 4,618 students in 2020 and 4,592 in 2021. They ranged in age from 19 to 73.
The school’s website says plans are in place to resume in-person instruction in the fall, with vaccine requirements.
CSUSM President Ellen Neufeldt, who started her tenure at the university in July 2019, said in an interview on Saturday that she was “thrilled to be able to do this,” especially for those who are the first in their families to graduate from college. Campus officials said that 57 percent of the 2021 class are considered firstgeneration graduates.
“They have gone through so much, they have such resilience, and now success,” Neufeldt said. “Our staff and faculty didn’t know until the last minute that we would be allowed to do this for the students. It’s been a labor of love.”
American Indian Studies Department Chair Joely Proudfit said that most of the 16 American Indians who graduated from CSUSM — from 15 different tribes, local and as far away as Michigan — make up some of those first-generation graduates. She said seven were American Indian Studies students; the others had different majors.
Proudfit attended the ceremony along with three other American Indian Studies professors who wanted to be there to celebrate the accomplishments of the students. Some of the American Indian graduates received handmade embroidered shawls from the instructors, and one graduate got an eagle feather.
“This is the day we wait for,” Proudfit said. “Education is the path to self-determination. American Indians have the worst graduation rates of any population in the United States, so when you graduate from college it’s like winning the lottery. When they graduate, it’s so important to the community and ensures a strong future for the society.”
The decision to allow an in-person commencement at CSUSM was announced in mid-april.
On Saturday, COVID-19 protocols were in full force — including special check-in measures for graduates and their two-guest maximum each, 6 feet of socially distanced space between graduates’ seats on the grassy field, and mandatory mask-wearing for all.
Attendance and participation required advance registration, and graduates were allowed to take off their masks when they reached the top of the stage, which was set up on the north end of the field.
Although she graduated from Cal State San Marcos in 2020, liberal studies graduate Sonia Kessler said there was no way she was missing commencement ceremonies this year. The pandemic canceled not only her graduation but also wedding plans and a baby shower.
She and her husband, Kyle Corcoran, who welcomed their son, Atlas, in April, ended up tying the knot at the Vista courthouse.
“I worked so hard for this degree,” Kessler said. “My mom and grandma are here and I wanted them to see me graduate. I know my mom is very excited about this day.”
One of the older graduates, 56-year-old Kansas native Cheri Bailey, a visual and performing arts graduate, said she felt fortunate to have finished her studies in January 2020 when her classes were held on campus. Disappointed that the pandemic didn’t allow for inperson graduation last May, she said she was grateful the school included 2020 grads in Saturday’s ceremonies.
“I was very lucky to have finished last year and that I was able to see my professors in class,” said the Oceanside resident, her service dog Blitz by her side.