TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Florida State University has announced that it will stream a virtual commencement ceremony for its spring graduates on Saturday, May 2.
President John Thrasher will preside over the ceremony, which will be streamed on the university’s website, Facebook and YouTube channels. The ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. ET.
“We were all heartbroken when the coronavirus pandemic forced us to cancel spring commencement at the Tucker Center,” Thrasher said. “We still want to recognize our students on graduation day and award the academic degrees that they earned through years of study and hard work. Hopefully, this virtual ceremony will give our graduates and their loved ones an opportunity to participate in a meaningful shared experience.”
While no graduates or guests will be present, the opening processional will still commence to “Pomp and Circumstance,” and both the National Anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance will be played.
Like a regular graduation, there will be official conferring of graduate and undergraduate academic degrees and the turning of tassels on the graduates’ caps.
In addition to the main commencement, individual colleges will read the names of their graduates in separate videos to be posted at commencement.fsu.edu
Names will also briefly appear at the end of the virtual ceremony and can be found in the digital commencement program that will be posted online at commencement.fsu.edu before the ceremony.
Ed Burr, chair of the FSU Board of Trustees, and 2019-2020 Student Body President Evan Steinberg will deliver brief remarks via video. The virtual ceremony will also include a commencement address by Mark Zeigler, a teaching professor from the FSU School of Communication.
FSU will award degrees to 6,973 graduates this semester: 5,628 bachelor’s degrees, 1,134 master’s degrees and 211 doctorates. These totals include graduates at FSU Panama City and the university’s campus in the Republic of Panama.
The university will also recognize students who have earned academic honors as well as student-veterans and members of the Garnet and Gold Scholar Society.
As far as graduation ceremonies for other colleges, the College of Medicine, which will graduate 114 new medical doctors, has scheduled a virtual commencement ceremony for 10 a.m. Saturday, May 16. The ceremony will be livestreamed at med.fsu.edu.
The College of Law will award 159 juris doctor degrees, 33 juris master’s degrees and five LL.M. degrees at a ceremony to be held at a later date.
A campus celebration for the spring 2020 graduates will be held at a future date after public health officials determine it is safe to resume large social gatherings. Plans will be announced well in advance to allow sufficient time to make travel arrangements.
“When it’s safe to do so, we hope our spring graduates will come back to campus so we can celebrate together,” Thrasher said. “In the meantime, we hope they will participate in this virtual ceremony and share their commencement photos and videos with the university community via social media.”
The virtual spring commencement ceremony will be streamed at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 2, via the following websites and social media platforms:
