FGCU students hope school will offer in-person graduation

A couple of Florida schools have announced in-person ceremonies with changes for this year, but that’s not the case for one Southwest Florida school.

The University of Florida announced plans to host both an in-person ceremony for spring graduates and a makeup for those who graduated in 2020. Florida State University will announce plans next week.

Students are stepping up in hopes of swaying university leaders. A student at the school started a petition hoping to show university leaders students want an in-person ceremony.

After six years of waiting, Alex Lynch is at the finish line.

“I’ve been dreaming about walking across that stage and hoping to make my parents proud,” said Lynch, a senior at Florida Gulf Coast University.

Lynch will get the milestone moment he wants, he just hopes it’s on campus.

“My parents said if it was a virtual graduation, they would build a stage in our backyard and I graduate that way,” Lynch said.

Students like Lynch want to know what FGCU’s plan is for graduation, but the school is not ready to say if there will be an in-person ceremony or if it will be virtual.

An FGCU spokesperson said they planned to make an announcement next month. If they choose to host an in-person ceremony, the school will invite last year’s graduates who had to graduate virtually. The spokesperson said space and size constraints will play a key role in their decision.

The school doesn’t have large outdoor facilities like Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at UF to space everyone out.

“If there was an in-person graduation, I’d be able to have the closure and celebrate all the triumphs of college and all the ups and the downs,” said Olivia Szpunar, part of FGCU’s class of 2020. “That would be a great opportunity for FGCU to give every hardworking past senior.”

Students on campus said they would not be OK with a virtual ceremony.

“It detaches you from like that I actually did it,” said David Galindo, a senior at the school. “You get that moment when you walk across the stage and you shake the president’s hand and everything.”

Lynch agrees.

“It would help me feel more accomplished than to just see my name go across my own TV in my living room versus being able to walk across the stage,” Lynch said.