Introduction

By Marissa Stacy

In March, COVID-19 hit the United States and left people in a state of uncertainty.

The pandemic forced colleges and universities to extend spring break while administrators devised a plan for reamined of the spring semester.

But nobody was ready for the extent of the impact that COVID-19 would have on higher education. Chancellor Victor Boschini announced in an email on March 19 that TCU would be moving to completely remote learning for the rest of the spring semester.

Students were confused, concerned and unhappy. Never before were they taught from their computers. And after getting used to living on their own, many found themselves back in their childhood homes.

The class of 2020 was weeks away from something they had looked forward to their entire lives: college graduation.

Julie Doles, a May 2020 graduate, felt a whirlwind of emotions when classes went online.

“I didn't really want to think about it [classes going online] because I knew I would get too sad thinking of all the things I was missing - the end of basketball season, baseball games, senior toast, senior bar crawl, graduation, my family visiting me in Texas one last time, seeing all my friends again and much more,” said Doles.

Boschini announced that graduation would go on as planned but at a later date: Aug. 8. Students were excited to get to celebrate their achievements with their peers and have Senior Toast the night before.

This gave the class of 2020 something to look forward to throughout isolation. It was one final way for them to say goodbye to their friends.

It was July 6 when Boschini had to break the news. The in-person graduation scheduled for August had to be canceled and moved to a virtual ceremony.

“I just want to apologize, even though I didn’t cause the global pandemic, I do want to apologize because you have been robbed,” Boschini said.

In August, 2020 graduates across the country sat with their families and watched their names scroll across a screen in the Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena.

The class has had mixed feelings about not being able to cross the stage in the Schollmaier Arena. Evelyn Candido, a senior nursing major who is graduating in December, is angry she won’t get that moment.

“Four years here working and even more in my major. I mean, we are going into the field that is helping fight this pandemic, the least we deserved was our pinning ceremony. I feel rage. I expected more from the school to give us something,” Candido said.

Not only did COVID-19 affect May 2020’s graduation, but December 2020’s graduation has also been canceled. Both have been invited to join the class of 2021 in May to celebrate their achievements.

Graduation has a lot of different meanings for everyone. To some it is to celebrate four years of hard work. To others, they are the first in their family to graduate.

TCU’s advanced visual journalism class decided to look at the many aspects of a lost graduation to help the class of 2020.

The authors of these pieces looked at every angle of graduating in 2020 - from the job market in a pandemic to the history of graduation at TCU.

Most importantly, they heard from the graduates themselves to make sure the class of 2020’s voices were heard.

The graduates of 2020

By Ariana Williams and Cristian Argueta Soto

Chancellor Victor Boschini addresses TCU class of 2020

By Leah Bolling

TCU’s Chancellor Victor Boschini apologized to the class of 2020 over the loss of in-person commencement ceremonies.

“You’ve been robbed,” Boschini said.

Boschini said that what makes TCU so special is how connected the community is. But TCU’s close-knit community is what also makes it so monumental when something like commencement is cancelled.

“I’m sad we didn’t have a commencement because it’s my favorite thing to do,” Boschini said. “But it also is a good closure for everybody- for the graduates, for the faculty, for the staff and for the families, too.”

Boschini said that in the 18 years he has been at TCU, every commencement ceremony has been held normally, until this year. The only issues they have had in the past were more logistical ones regarding the venue or parking.

Boschini said that they had come up with many alternative plans to hold commencement for the 2020 graduates, including ceremonies in Amon G. Carter stadium or a venue in downtown Fort Worth.

“We were meeting every week with the Tarrant County Board of Health, and it was just strongly advised to us not to do it because it would be bringing too many people together at one time,” Boschini said.

Boschini said that he thought what TCU did was very comparable to other schools.

“We did a virtual commencement too, and we tried to make it as neat as possible,” Boschini said. “We even put every student’s name on the screen at the Schollmaier like we normally do; it was just empty.”

Boschini said that despite the unfortunate circumstances he still felt the love from the TCU community. While he received some angry emails, the majority of the messages were compassionate towards the situation. People recognized that TCU wouldn’t have made this decision unless it was something extremely important. 

“People rallied around and were so positive about it,” Boschini said. “And that’s who you have to concentrate on because if you get stuck in the negative, you really go down fast.”

Boschini said that TCU plans to hold the class of 2021’s commencement in the Schollmaier Arena as usual, only with less people than they normally have.

In addition to this, students who missed out on their commencement ceremony in 2020 will be invited back to celebrate with the class of 2021.

“This is going to be very hard but we’re going to do it,” Boschini said. “We’re going to do two sets of commencement - one for the class of 2021 who’s graduating, and one for the class of 2020 who didn’t get theirs, either in August or December.”

Graduates looking for jobs

by Joey Palmeri

Despite the economic challenges brought on by the pandemic, TCU has not seen a decline in the number of students receciving jobs after graduation this year.

The rates of hiring, internships and graduate school for graduating students have remained practically identical to May 2019.

One example of a student finding unemployment despite the uncertainty of the pandemic is business student and 2020 graduate Ryan Padgett.

Padgett is already employed after receiving a business information systems degree and credited the Neeley School of Business for helping him find a job.

“I think Neeley has done a tremendous job with getting students hired, despite COVID-19,” he said.

Mike Caldwell, the executive director of the TCU Career Center, has said that more jobs are being posted after a decline in the early parts of the pandemic.

Caldwell also suggests that students who are graduating in 2021 and even beyond should start their job search now to get ahead.

Parents react to cancellation of in-person commencement

By Sederick Oliver

COVID-19 abruptly halted life and all of its everyday endeavors. Companies, industries and schools were forced to alter the constructs of their operations. Schools and colleges more specifically were tasked with handling certain events, one being graduation.

As momentous as graduating is, schools and colleges were burdened with the decision to not hold formal graduation ceremonies due to the rising COVID-19 cases. TCU was among those that decided to forgo the ceremony. Several students were deprived of their special moments. Though unfortunate for the graduates, parents were also greatly affected.

"It was just surreal for us,” Terri Weinman, a parent of a 2020 TCU graduate said.

The unconventional nature in which students were forced to finish the semester caught Weinman by surprise.

“So, I guess you’re going to finish this online… she actually took her last exam in the exact chair I’m sitting in,” Weinman said.

Students dream and work towards graduating in hopes of accomplishing their goals and relishing the moment with their loved ones.  The circumstances surrounding COVID-19 led to a much more anticlimatic and virtual experience.

Another parent, Charlotte Holliday, compared the anomaly of a semester to her daughter’s prior semesters.

“The difference between her last semester and her other three years…night and day, absolutely night and day," Holliday said.

Holliday also elaborated on the inability to thoroughly enjoy her daughter’s last few months on campus alongside her.

“That was taken from us, those last precious months of us being on campus together, it never happened," she said.

Senior photos

By Lauren Cottrell

While COVID-19 has negatively affected countless businesses, photographers have not felt that impact.

Since the start of the pandemic, many photographers have seen a spike in their business as seniors are looking for a way to document their four years in college.

Travel photographer Daniel Ebomwonyi was among the photographers whose business increased during the nationwide quarantine. 

Embomwonyi had decided to begin traveling around Texas and taking senior photos a year before the pandemic struck and said that he was lucky to not have lost business as he was still able to continue his tour even after quarantine.

“Now that everything is getting cancelled, more people are wanting to capture their moments, so I’ve been getting a lot more bookings than usual,” Ebomwonyi said.

Embomwonyi said he had just reached his two hundredth photoshoot of the year - a monumental increase as he had never reached more than one hundred in past years.

Another photographer in the area, Merissa De Falcis, said that once the lockdown sanctions were lifted in May, her business intensified as Spring 2020 graduates wanted some way to remember their graduation.

“Most of them are not actually walking across the stage in their cap and gown or be able to take photos around campus on graduation day like usual, so having these photos meant a lot more to them this year as a way to remember their school experience,” De Falcis said.

Despite the lost graduation for many and a virtual one for others, Ebomwonyi focuses on the bright side as he said he believes this pandemic will teach people to live in the moment and appreciate more.

“People are going to start to realize how important just living life is and capturing the moment,” Ebomwonyi said.