ATHENS, WV (WOAY) – In response to the pandemic, schools have switched to online courses and cancelled graduation ceremonies, leaving many seniors with disappointment.
Taylor Carter, the student body president at Concord University, says that the graduating class of 2020 hasn’t been too excited with the idea.
“The seniors are pretty upset from what I’ve heard. A lot of my friends are seniors and they’re really sad that they’re not having their last semester on campus,” Carter said.
But despite the issues with the pandemic, Carter claims the professors at Concord are doing a great job at continuing to provide a quality education.
“The classes that I was taking, they transferred everything to online very quickly and pretty seamlessly honestly. So I think that people will hold the same respect for the professors and administration that they normally do.”
Universities across the country are dealing with similar issues. Final exams, graduations, internships, work-study and other aspects of college life have been thrown to the side.
According to Carter, the student body at Concord has realized that this is the new normal.
“Everybody’s just been rolling with the punches since then. There were a couple of issues at the very beginning but for the most part everybody’s pretty much satiated and kind of working with what they have at this point.”
Students seem to be transitioning fine to this new way of life. But losing out on graduation may be a hanging disappointment that lasts for years, one that isn’t mitigated through the virtual ceremony that’s being planned instead.
To help with the cancellations, some universities like WVU have offered delayed graduation ceremonies taking place in the late Fall.
