On March 29, 2021, a group of seniors here at the University organized a peaceful and respectful protest to let their voices be heard on the matter of administration deciding to hold a virtual graduation instead of an in person commencement on the Western New England University campus.
The protest consisted of about 50 seniors, signs, brief speeches and of course, social distancing and masks. They decided to be the voices of many to have their opinions be heard as they believe that the administration is not doing all they can to make this in person commencement take place.
Students are aware of other schools in surrounding areas having an in person graduation as well as commencement rules being changed by the governor. Being part of this graduating class, I can understand how tough of a year it has been dealing with COVID from a student standpoint and through the eyes of an athlete. I can only imagine all of the backlash that the university has had to deal with, but that does not mean that senior students and parents are going to let them off easy with them not putting their best foot forward when it comes to the graduation.
At first, I wasn’t really a fan of the idea for a few reasons that I feel that many could understand due to the position that the baseball team, which I am a member of, and the University as a whole is coping with COVID-19. Around the time when this event was being planned, the University was pretty close to being shut down as a whole and sports were in a shut down period for ten days.
I knew that the University was not going to be happy with the thought of students gathering at large quantities to try to voice their opinions that were essentially going against the administration, and I didn’t think it could end well for the students or the sports teams still trying to have somewhat of a season.
Unfortunately, I could not make it to the protest myself but from what I heard from friends who attended, it sounds like it was very respectable and was not done out of anger. Seniors simply just want to experience walking across the stage in front of their families and friends — it is a huge accomplishment and marks the end of an era but also starts a new chapter of each and every graduating individual’s book. I hope that the administration can figure out a way to make this ceremony happen in person and make a not-so-normal year end in the best possible way for the students who have worked so hard and earned their degrees.
