SAN ANGELO, Texas — Angelo State University held a modified graduation in December 2020. The university normally holds three face-to-face graduation ceremonies for the year. Now, the university will be holding an extra two making it a total of five graduations.
However, some parts of the ceremony will not be included in this year's commencement. According to university officials, professors will unfortunately not be able to attend due to the capacity limit in the Junell Center, which will be limited to 1,200 people. That makes 30% of its total capacity according to university officials.
Each graduate will also be limited to the number of invites they have. There will also be reserved seating and only those with a ticket will be allowed into the center.
Dr. Don Topliff is the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, explains more of the changes for this year.
"So in the past, we have not limited in any way the number of folks that could attend by each graduate, but because of the capacity of the Junell and our need to socially distance folks in the crowd, we've had to limit it to four tickets per student," Topliff said.
There will be a virtual viewing option for students who choose to not attend in-person.
Topliff said, "For those who attend virtually, we'll have their picture posted in the graduation ceremony towards the end of each college."
The student-led organization, AMAS, the Association of Mexican American Students is also expected to host the stole event and spring formal for its graduating members. Families are also invited to attend on May 1.
Sarah Delgado is a soon-to-be graduate of Angelo State University and is also the recruitment and alumni chair for AMAS.
"I will be attending in person, I will have my mask on, and I do still believe that I want to protect the people around me and myself. So, all of our AMAS events will continue to wear masks at all of our events because we want to keep each other safe in that way. I do still want to walk the stage and I'm very glad that Angelo State decided to have that opportunity for us," Delgado said.
There will be a total of 1,000 graduating Rams who will close this chapter of their lives throughout the two days of ceremonies on May 14 and May 15.
