Dear All,
We will have plenty of Fridays to share news of budgets, scenarios, and decisions to come, but we will never have another Friday before Commencement 2020. So it is that after one important business matter, I step away to take a breather and focus this week’s corona-missive on the pomp, circumstance, and joy of this special time of the year.
Emergency Aid
The College of New Jersey has begun distributing emergency federal CARES grant aid to applicants disrupted by COVID-19. As of this writing, we are processing nearly $1.4 million to over 1,100 applicants. If you have been awarded funding in this first round, you will receive an automatically generated notice that funds have been deposited into your bank account. (Sorry in advance: it is a clunky impersonal notice, but we cannot turn it off.) If you have not yet applied for funding and wish to, see the application form. For more information, visit the frequently asked questions page. Please apply if eligible: the college will continue disbursing the funding, a total of $2.5 million, until it runs out.
Commencement Activities
Now to the time-honored tradition to celebrate our bachelor’s and master’s graduates as they culminate their TCNJ career and enter the ranks of distinguished alumni.
By tradition, TCNJ celebrates commencement in two parts: a Commencement Convocation and Academic Ceremonies.
Commencement Convocation is the large ceremony ordinarily held in Lions Stadium. It features a formal graduate processional followed by speakers (including the senior class president and faculty member selected by the senior class), presentation of the class gift, and performances by the TCNJ Wind Ensemble, Concert Band, and Chorale. I have the great honor at this ceremony to confer the degrees of graduates, which I do as they stand together by level of degree and academic school.
I am pleased to report that this year’s Commencement Convocation, which takes place virtually at noon on Thursday, May 21 (see access details below), will include all of the traditional components. The video presentation features scheduled speakers, performances by the musical ensembles, and a special processional of our graduates. While we know that we cannot replicate the experience of 10,000 people celebrating together in the stadium, we are confident that participants will revel in the achievement of our graduates while viewing the truly special virtual ceremony.
Conducted for the graduates of each school or department, Academic Ceremonies take place over a two-day period around the Commencement Convocation. It is at these smaller, personal, more intimate events that our graduates have their name called, individually receive their diploma cover, shake the hands of the faculty and dean of their school, and celebrate with their fellow program graduates. These unique ceremonies often include discipline-specific speakers, video presentations, and the recognition of student honors and awards.
Because the personal nature of Academic Ceremonies is difficult to replicate virtually, we are planning to hold them in person when possible. We have tentatively scheduled Class of 2020 Academic Ceremonies to take place on campus October 31 and November 1, 2020.
Participation on May 21, 2020
In the meantime, I warmly invite and encourage everyone to participate in next Thursday’s Commencement Convocation.
Graduates: Please gather with those closest to you to watch the virtual extravaganza at noon on May 21. To join, access the link on the TCNJ commencement website. Be sure to wear your cap and gown, graduates. At the moment of the conferral of degrees in the ceremony I will ask that you and classmates from your academic school stand if you are able. Upon making your graduation official, I will invite you, undergraduates, to move your tassel from right to left to signal your status as a college graduate. (Master’s degree candidates: your tassel will already be on the left.) Please capture this moment and share it on social media using #TCNJ2020. Be sure to visit our downloadable swag section of the commencement website for custom photo frames that you can use to brand your pictures before posting. Staff will be curating a special Class of 2020 social media wall throughout the event and will be on the lookout for your photos.
Parents, family and friends of our graduates: The formal program for the event, including a listing of all of our graduates is available for download on the commencement website. If you are like me and love keepsakes, please note that official hard copies of the program will be sent to your graduate once we return to campus. To help build excitement for the event, the downloads section of the website contains an electronic copy of the invitation that you can use to send to friends or create an Evite. You will also find print-at-home decorations and graphics for Facebook.
Faculty and Staff: Each of you have been so essential to our graduations every year and now for the Class of 2020. Thank you for your devotion to mentor and support our students throughout their time on campus. Thank you, too, to the commencement committee and the many who organize and participate in commencement activities, traditionally volunteering to drive golf carts, staff information booths, help with parking and seating, and host our amazing receptions. While we are unable to be together in person this year to celebrate our graduates, I invite you to gather at noon on May 21 to watch the virtual commencement, itself a labor of love crafted by our very own Communications, Marketing, and Brand Management team, with contributions from scores of dedicated staff and faculty. Many emotions come on commencement day, but I hope, this year in particular, that they include elation for our courageous and talented graduates and deserved pride and satisfaction in your own accomplishments in readying them for this moment.
This year’s commencement will be different because of social distancing, but I promise you that the program and activities will befit the occasion and the indomitable Class of 2020. Please join us.
In anticipation,
Kathryn A. Foster
President