On Feb. 9, the University of Oregon made the final call to make 2021 graduation commencement a virtual event. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, some students see the switch as a necessary precaution. But, with UO still hosting the 2021 U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials, some doubt all other alternatives were considered before making the final decision. 

Borchardt: If Olympic trials can happen, so can commencement

Hearing UO’s 2021 commencement ceremony was going to be a virtual event felt like a slap in the face. I, as well as my fellow classmates, have worked ridiculously hard to earn our degrees while facing multiple challenges during our last year of college. We were thrown into online classes with little to no time to prepare for that drastic change —  yet we still finished. It was devastating to lose our senior year to a pandemic, but it’s even more disheartening to know that our commencement ceremony, the event we’ve all been looking forward to, has been lost too. I believe that COVID-19 is a serious issue, and we must do everything in our power to protect the health of ourselves and others. However, I also believe it’s possible for UO to organize a COVID-19-safe commencement ceremony.

UO isn’t hiding the fact that it’s able to host large events. The newly constructed Hayward Field will host the 2021 U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials. While it still hasn’t been confirmed if guests will be allowed to attend, athletes — from all around the world — will attend regardless. If UO has the resources to make this in-person event possible, it should have the resources for an in-person commencement ceremony. So why is our ceremony such an unattainable task? The answer is simple: money. UO won’t nearly make as much revenue from the commencement ceremony as they will from hosting the Olympic trials.

The 2021 graduating class consists of roughly 7,500 students. Autzen Stadium is able to accomodate 54,000 people and Hayward Field is able to accommodate nearly 25,000 people. Knowing these two stadiums are able to accommodate that many people, along with the fact that the commencement ceremony was already split up by department, I can’t help but feel devastated. It seems it would be fairly easy to distance students by six or more feet apart. And if our friends and families couldn’t be accommodated because of distancing guidelines, the ceremony could’ve been live streamed so they could watch us walk from the safety of their homes. UO is yet again sending a clear message that it will always put profit over students, and the students that didn’t believe that before clearly see that now. 

Sterling: Virtual graduation is the right choice for the wrong reasons

Last year, UO announced that the class of 2020 would join forces with the class of 2021 to create UO’s largest ever graduation ceremony. In classic UO fashion, this was an empty promise. At the time of this announcement in April 2020, the pandemic was only beginning to take shape as the most devastating event in modern history; there were zero assurances of a vaccine arriving in the next year. 

Similarly, in June 2020, UO boldly announced that fall term was shifting back to   in-person learning, influencing students to remain enrolled and to sign leases in Eugene. Of course, early 2020 perceptions toward COVID-19 are a far cry from the knowledge we have today.

Regardless, it was irresponsible for UO to confidently announce anything when nothing was, or is, guaranteed.

Ultimately, UO made the correct decision to cancel in-person graduation for the class of 2021. Since the cancellation of last years’ graduation ceremonies, the pandemic has worsened exponentially. While UO should’ve exerted all possible modes of in-person graduation, ensuring safety for students and their families should always be the primary concern for a university of this size. 

Avoiding large, in-person gatherings is a surefire way to restrict the movement of COVID-19. Hosting an in-person graduation, that would potentially attract thousands of people to Eugene, would be irresponsible. Graduating students, like myself, who have given UO tens of thousands of dollars have to understand that it has zero obligation to give back to its students by carefully organizing COVID-19-safe graduation plans. 

Given UO’s unwillingness to expend energy on non-lucrative issues, the easiest choice for them was to relegate the 2021 graduation ceremony to a virtual format. While I can’t argue against a decision that will prevent the spread of the virus,  I can argue that UO’s primary reason for doing so was not just to protect its students — but rather to avoid the hassle of organizing an event that they will not financially profit from.