Commencement Plans for the Class of 2020

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Released: April 24, 2020 at 2:38 p.m. PDT

Dear seniors and families,

Of all the communications I have shared over the past few months, the hardest email to send, by far, was the one about canceling our on-campus commencement. It is such an important celebration of all your hard work these last four years that it is heartbreaking that we won’t get to celebrate in person this May.

However, since that announcement, students and families have provided feedback about what they would like to see. We put together a team to work to bring some of those ideas to life. Now, I want to share with you the plans for commencement for the Class of 2020.

Your virtual commencement will happen on the original commencement date: Sunday, May 24. It will have many of the traditional components of commencement – remarks from Board of Trustees Chair Nancy Serrurier, a commencement speaker, the senior speaker, and I’ll speak, as well. Provost Alzada Tipton will read the name of every senior.

We’re also pleased to share that there will be some new digital and interactive aspects to commencement, including the opportunity for you to submit a video of yourself. Your 2020 commencement speaker will be Katie Krummeck from Whitman’s Class of 2003. Krummeck is an educational designer and thought leader on leveraging the power of design to drive change and is planning a dynamic speech that will incorporate feedback directly from your class. In the coming days, you will receive more information on how to participate in these exciting and new commencement opportunities. We’ll also be sending every member of the Class of 2020 some mementos from commencement – some programs as well as a framed photo of your very special class.

I realize that these elements will not replace the sense of community and celebration that can only come with standing together as a class in front of Memorial Building and throwing that cap into the air. We will be sending a cap and tassel to all of you — and look forward to the day when can celebrate together, hopefully in the fall of 2020.

Even though this year’s ceremony will look different than in years past, the purpose is the same – to celebrate the countless accomplishments during your time here at Whitman, and to welcome you into the ranks of our esteemed alumni. We are immensely proud of each and every one of you and how you have handled yourself the past four years and, in particular, the past few months. I can’t wait to celebrate with you virtually in a few short weeks.

Take good care,

Kathy Murray