Commencement is an integral life step and transition period for many students, and over the last two years many higher education institutions have chosen to hold commencement ceremonies virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, with proper safety precautions and increased vaccination rates, many institutions are choosing to return to in-person commencements, including Seattle Pacific University.

Alongside the commencement ceremony, SPU is also holding its traditional ivy cutting ceremony. Commencement is being held at the Tacoma Dome, whilst the ivy cutting is being held in Tiffany Loop on SPU’s campus. Provost Laura Hartley cited venue size and availability issues for deciding on the Tacoma Dome for this year’s commencement.  

“Tacoma Dome hit all of the things that we needed. It was available the weekends we needed it, it was large enough to not have to limit ticket sizes, and it’ll just prove to be a really good space,” Hartley said.

In the past, SPU has used various Seattle venues, including the Alaska Airlines Arena and T-Mobile Park. 

Executive Assistant Maliea Lowe-Hale shared some of the issues her team ran into while scheduling a venue for this year’s commencement.

“The gamble with some of these bigger venues is that we, SPU, are kind of small fish in this urban setting we find ourselves in,” Lowe-Hale said. “So even though we’re penciled in at a venue, it doesn’t necessarily guarantee we are going to have a spot there…In June 2021 we were penciled in at T-Mobile Park, however, once the Mariners’ schedule was released, we found out that our ceremony date was in conflict with their game schedule and our spot at T-Mobile was dropped.”

Hartley also shared the invitation of previous graduates to this year’s commencement ceremony.

“When we secured this venue, we realized that it was big enough that we could invite back classes of 2020 and 2021,” Hartley said. 

Lowe-Hale shared the university’s vision of the role of graduates and their families in the ceremony.

“The vision we have for returning families and graduates of 2020 and 2021 would be for them to have two options. They would all be invited to the main 2022 ceremony where we’d take a moment to have them stand and be recognized,” said Lowe-Hale “But if students or families didn’t want to stay the whole time, there would also be an invitation to an afterparty of sorts, where they could come up, walk across the stage and have a professional photo taken,” 

Some students were disappointed with the decision to move commencement in-person only. Fifth year psychology major Devon Yamane shared her frustrations and concerns about inviting the graduates of 2020 and 2021.

“I think just the added little caveat of having two additional classes join our ceremony, with the potential for twice the amount of people in a crowded arena…is really concerning. I would prefer a hybrid situation if they are still really set on doing something in-person,” Yamane said. “Clearly there is a lot of shared experiences with these three classes…[but] their experience navigating COVID, just their experience of the world is just a lot different.” 

Class of 2021 alumni Bea Bouman shared frustrations of graduating online and that many graduates have moved away from Seattle and most likely will not be attending.

“It felt very disrespectful to have online commencement in June 2021…I was incredibly disappointed. The grad box we got instead did not make up for the huge missed experience of ivy cutting and a real graduation,” Bouman said. “I do not think a large number of alumni will attend. Many of us moved away from Seattle and have moved on with our lives.”

Alumni Jack Parisi had different experiences with virtual commencement and also feels that many graduates have moved to a different stage in their lives.

“Online commencement was not the worst. My family made the best of it by having a grad party and watching,” Parisi said. “I understand that they want to give students the opportunity to experience a normal graduation but for me personally, I would feel out of place. I’m already at a place where so much life has already happened since graduation.”

Lowe-Hale spoke on the possibility that many alumni will not return to Seattle for the ceremony, but hopes that the university is able to honor the graduates who were not able to receive an in-person commencement ceremony.

“The class of 2020 have been in the working world for two years now, they might be busy pursuing careers, they might have moved away from Seattle, it might be hard for them to return back, but we want to at least give them this option to return and be recognized because it wasn’t an option when they graduated,” Lowe-Hale said. “We want to be as honoring as we can to these graduating classes and their families and really we want to invite them back as members of the SPU family and to recognize them as our newest alumni.”

For more information on SPU’s commencement for the class of 2022, please visit https://spu.edu/university-leadership/provost/commencement.