BREAKING: Cal State LA announces details for in-person commencement

Covino announces graduation ceremonies will be held at Rose Bowl Stadium

The+commencement+ceremony+is+one+of+the+few+major+university+events+whose+fate+is+left+in+question+due+to+the+coronavirus+pandemic.

Photo courtesy of Robert Huskey/Cal State LA

The commencement ceremony is one of the few major university events whose fate is left in question due to the coronavirus pandemic.

UPDATED: May 4, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. Covino announces Tuesday that graduates will not receive guest tickets nor be able to walk the stage.

UPDATED: April 13, 2021 at 3:30 p.m. Covino announces Tuesday that graduation ceremonies will take place at Rose Bowl Stadium.

An in-person commencement that will celebrate the Class of 2021 and 2020, is being planned for Saturday, May 29, according to a campus-wide email April 9 from President William A. Covino.

Covino added in another email April 13 that the location has now been secured for the two-ceremony graduation—Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena.

In a new email on May 4, Covino announced that due to limited capacity at the Rose Bowl Stadium, graduates will not be given guest tickets. Names will be featured on the website for the virtual ceremonies but will not be read during the in-person ceremony. “Walking the stage, handshaking, and hooding (for graduate students) are not part of the ceremonies this year,” wrote Covino.

The previous email stated that though L.A. county has made its way into the orange tier, if conditions change, the plans for an in-person commencement may be readjusted. It also states that public health protocols will be followed and those who are unable to attend can follow the ceremony through a livestream.

Aside from the in-person commencement, the Class of 2021 will also have a website celebrating their achievements and the virtual ceremonies that begin on Wednesday, May 26.

Students were ambivalent about Covino’s previous announcement that progress was being made towards an in-person commencement.

“Class of 2021, the faculty, staff, and administrators of Cal State LA are proud of all that you’ve achieved. We want to honor your accomplishment with a safe Commencement that you, your family, and your friends will enjoy and remember,” wrote Covino in the email.