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A graduation ceremony can mean a great deal to many or all graduating students Although some aspects of a traditional ceremony will still be present for the 2022 spring commencement ceremony for Cal State University Long Beach graduates, things will still look slightly different.
To start, the ceremony will still take place at Angels Stadium in Anaheim. A quick search and read through the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section of the CSULB 2022 commencement ceremony will state the CSULB campus’ decision in choosing Angel Stadium as the place to hold the ceremony again, stating that “Building on previous year’s excellent family experience, the campus has contracted with Angel Stadium of Anaheim to ensure, no matter the status of the pandemic or vendor availability, that in-person commencement ceremonies will be available to graduates and their guests.” The school has updated on their commencement page an explanation of what the in-person ceremony will look like.
This decision was met with mixed emotions from the graduating class. Graduating students from CSULB have been vocal in their skepticism and disapproval through social media apps, such as Twitter and Instagram. Some students even started a petition through change.org, expressing their concerns about the ceremony. As of March 20th, 2022 the petition has been signed by 7,373 total people.
Although not all involved in signing the petition are students graduating, many students have been vocal about the petition through social media, hoping to garner more signatures, which is a telling sign of the student's opinions on the ceremony. Despite this petition start-up and signatures received, on February 25th, 2022, CSULB President Jane Conoley issued a commencement update regarding the comments and feedback the school may have received through social media, emails, requests, petitions, and a survey sent out to graduating students.
Due to the mixed reaction on the update, several students were willing to express their feelings on the on-going situation. One graduating student from CSULB spoken to, who wanted to be referred to as CJ, spoke about their mixed feelings about the situation. CJ spoke on how they felt about graduation all together, stating that “I can see why you would be upset like I mean, there are people are talking about being first-generation graduates, so they're like, oh, it's important for them but now I'm also a first-generation graduate and I think you know, I mean, sure it's important but in such a ceremony like what matters is the education involved itself.
Another student that talked about their plans and feelings regarding the ceremony was Elena Chavez. Elena spoke about her feelings on the ceremony, stating “I do plan to attend the ceremony although I am a little disappointed that names won’t be announced.” Elena also stated that they had reconsidered attending but changed their mind due to their parents, stating “my parents encouraged me to still go regardless of not having a traditional ceremony.”
CJ, Elena, and a source who chose to be anonymous provided a bit of skepticism about the administration's handling of the situation and reactions to their announcement. In general, some graduating students have been vocal about the concerns they have about the event. Some of these concerns include the school adhering to covid-19 precautions as a priority while simultaneously situating students near each other at the event in the stands. Others believe the school is being quite hypocritical of the situation, as they have called out the schools resuming of in-person classes and activities, such as sports while simultaneously not allowing for students to be allowed to walk across the main stage and shake hands as they receive their diploma. While the reception to the mini stages outside the stadium might have been positive in previous years, the graduating class of 2022 would prefer this to occur during the actual ceremony, not before or after.
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