‘ Deprived people of important rituals,’ anthropologist says
Four years ago, COVID-19 lockdowns prevented some high school seniors from attending initiation. Today, some of those same individuals are graduating from college and, after again, missing out on the historic event.
Columbia University, the University of Southern California, Pomona College, and Emory University, among others, just canceled or modified their initiation ceremonies due to safety concerns after loud pro- Israeli protests on school.
Another recent graduation festivities have been disrupted by activists, including at Duke University, Virginia Commonwealth University, UC Berkeley, Emerson College and the University of Wisconsin- Madison, Axios reported.
Taking the place of Columbia’s campus- large commencement are smaller school ceremonies and Class Days– which the university says may be easier to keep” healthy, polite, and running efficiently”.
Others missed Howard University’s capacity-filled facility’s commencement of the nursing program last week.
According to graduate Halle Ragoonanan, “her heart was broken as she and her family searched for opportunities to make up for the pandemic’s absence,” according to NBC Washington.
” I did n’t even get to walk”, she told the news outlet. ” I did n’t get to walk. I had no chance of walking when I graduated, Magna Cumlaude. I’m the class of 2020. I did n’t get to walk for my high school graduation and I did n’t get to walk for my college graduation”.
According to a spokesman for the university, overcrowding has never been a problem in the past. The 2024 class, according to Sermons, is the largest in the university’s history, and more families than usual did so because COVID prevented them from seeing their students ‘ high school graduates. Some family members slammed against the windows, requesting permission, which resulted in the cancellation of the event.
The private Washington, D.C. university also issued an apology and added a ceremony for the nursing students who were unable to attend the first commencement.
Dimitris Xygalatas, an anthropology professor at the University of Connecticut, said graduation ceremonies are important cultural and personal experiences, and universities should be cautious about cancellations.
All major transitions are smothered in ceremony, according to Xygalatas, who wrote at The Conversation, from personal milestones like birthdays and weddings to societal shifts like the passage of government power. ” These rituals are significant because they happen without exception in all human societies,” says one author.
He argued that administrators may be worsening a “bad situation” because “disconnecting people from meaningful rituals can lead to disillusionment and social disengagement.”
College graduation can be one of the most important points in a person’s life, their lifestyle, their relationships, and their role in society all change, he said.
” Graduation ceremonies reflect graduates ‘ bonds to their institutions and fellow students in addition to the sacredness of education and the significance of student accomplishments. In that capacity, such gatherings may be needed more than ever in a context fraught with division”, Xygalatas said.
MORE: Pro-Palestinian students leave Duke’s Seinfeld commencement speech
IMAGE: Ljupco Smokovski / Shutterstock
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