Dear Graduates,
As we look forward to recognizing the hard work of IUPUC graduates who have persisted and completed their degrees during a global pandemic, we realize the importance commencement has to you, and your family. We are disappointed that we had to make the difficult choice to restrict attendance at our event to graduates, but felt strongly that we wanted to celebrate you, even if that means limiting attendees.
Indiana University and all its campuses have had to make many changes throughout this year in response to the global pandemic, including plans for our commencement celebration. All Indiana University campuses must comply with local and national health guidelines in preparing their commencement events. In our case, we are limited to no more than 250 participants at an outdoor event with physical distancing between participants. In addition, because we are an inclusive campus, our event is held on a hard surface so that all may access it, including students with physical disabilities. The portion of the parking lot we will be using allows us to hold this event while adhering to federal, local, and Indiana University guidelines.
We aim to celebrate the accomplishments of our graduates tastefully and have plans in place for staging the event in a manner that honors our graduates with the importance and dignity commensurate with an Indiana University recognition event. Required mitigation testing prior to the event is provided by IUPUC and is available as part of our regular mitigation testing process at no cost to students.
In order to adhere to Indiana University and local guidelines, we needed to alter our event date on short notice or face holding the event virtually. Because of the requirement for an outdoor venue, this new date allows for a rain date in the event of inclement weather. I know some have made plans and adjusted schedules for this event, and I apologize for any inconvenience this change of date has caused you.
As a reminder, you have multiple opportunities for celebrating the completion of your degree. You may participate in our event at IUPUC where you will be recognized individually; or because we are a school of IUPUI, you may also participate in IUPUI’s appropriate graduate or undergraduate commencement, depending on degree; or you may participate in both if you choose to do so.
Although it may look different this year, I look forward to celebrating this joyous occasion with you.
Sincerely,
Dr. Reinhold Hill
Vice Chancellor and Dean