Virtual summer commencement scheduled for Aug. 2

Dear members of the university community,

I hope that you and your families are safe and healthy as we continue to work and learn remotely during the summer.

As you know, we are finalizing our Panthers Protecting Panthers plan, which calls for every member of the Panther family to take responsibility for protecting each other from COVID-19 during a phased return to campus.

Among the ways we protect each other is by remaining physically distant, in order to mitigate risk and avoid the spread of coronavirus. That is why all university events—on and off campus—will continue to be held virtually until it is deemed safe to gather on campus.

For everyone’s safety, and like many of our State University System sister institutions, we will host a virtual commencement for summer graduates at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 2. While I encourage you to tune in on Aug. 2, please know that the ceremony will be available any time after that for your enjoyment.

Similar to our spring virtual commencement, where we saw 6,000 students graduate, our summer celebration will feature a Zoom-recorded performance of the alma mater by our School of Music students, remarks from me and our deans, and personalized slides honoring our graduates’ achievements.

For our summer virtual commencement, we’re adding even more Panther spirit, with new and exciting features for our graduates such as contests, commencement toolkits for social media filters and yard signs. We are also considering a campus caravan to celebrate our students. Please stay tuned for additional details.

Although there is no substitution for a celebration on campus, our spring virtual commencement proved to be overwhelmingly successful. Thousands of families gathered in at-home ceremonies, organized graduation caravans and shared some Panther spirit with uplifting messages on social media. Our goal is to give our summer graduates an even more memorable Panther commencement experience.

In addition, every spring and summer 2020 graduate will have the opportunity to walk in a traditional commencement ceremony once we resume in-person ceremonies. I look forward to posing for official graduation photo with each graduate once it is safe to do so. Graduates, please look for additional information in the coming days.

For updated information and answers to frequently asked questions, please visit FIU’s coronavirus website.

In the Panther spirit,

Mark B. Rosenberg