In light of graduation for the Loyola New Orleans class of 2021, the University has just announced that the graduation ceremony will be conducted in a virtual/drive-through fashion. This means that all students will be limited to having their families drive around in a car as they congratulate the graduates. This completely takes away from the graduation experience, and the students of the class of 2021 are kindly asking for this ceremony to be held in-person in a socially distanced manner.
Having graduation that is virtual/ drive through completely takes away from its magnitude. It is one of the most sincere and heartfelt events that an awaiting college graduate will experience. There are thousands of dollars that parents and students have had to work hard for to be able to pay the University, to be able to one day share that special moment of watching the student walk up and get his/her diploma in front of their family and peers. If there weren’t other schools already doing socially distanced events, then maybe this decision of having a virtual/drive-through event would be understandable; unfortunately, this is not the case.
In the minds of these Loyola’s awaiting college graduates, one thing that has to be taken into great consideration is that the Tulane University, which is located within 50 feet of Loyola, is conducting a socially distanced graduation event. If a university such as Tulane, which has a much larger study body, can manage the logistics involved with having a socially distanced graduation ceremony, Loyola should have no problem as the Loyola graduating class is a tenth of the size of Tulane’s. Yet, Loyola still insists on having a virtual/drive-through ceremony.
Another major problem associated with this decision is that in order to be able to attend a drive-through event, one needs a car. Most of the students who attend Loyola do not have a car, yet the Loyola administration assumes that all families can easily resolve this situation. The solution; rent a car. By having to rent a car, this adds another financial expense that has not been previously put into consideration, causing many families financial hardship, as if this wasn’t already a financially challenging time in many people’s lives as we are in the midst of a global pandemic. As of 2021, one of the most efficient transportation methods used by students whose families visit New Orleans is Uber and other instant ride services. Having to order an Uber for a drive-through event would be very expensive, considering the amount of time this ceremony takes, just to name one example. Other examples of things not considered when arranging this ceremony are that many students have difficult situations like having divorced parents or how many students have large families that do not fit into one car. Yet, the University still insists on each student having one singular vehicle in use for the ceremony.
After COVID changed the college experience for all students over the past year and a half, all that is asked is that Loyola New Orleans arranges a socially distanced graduation ceremony for the class of 2021. Having a drive-through/virtual event is not just for the class of 2021 or their families. The class of 2021 and their families should be able to have a memorable day, a chance to say goodbye to their peers, and finally, feel a complete sense of accomplishment and gratefulness for their time at Loyola New Orleans.
Loyola managed to run the entire academic year smoothly, including having students in person for class and even having various campus activities. All that students of the class of 2021 are asking for is that Loyola changes their planned graduation procedures to ones that are conducted in-person and socially distanced.