Students React To WIU Failing To Have In-Person Graduation Ceremony

Western Illinois University has decided to cancel the in-person graduation ceremony this spring. This has affected students tremendously seeing that schools that surround WIU in Illinois have found a way to have in-person ceremonies. Schools like the Univerity of Illinois, Northern Illinois University, and Southern Illinois University are all schools that have a larger population than Western and have found a way to have in-person graduation for their students. Students at WIU have not taken this news lightly and have been actively sharing a petition with friends and family to try and get the ceremony they deserve. As of March 18th, there are zero active COVID-19 cases at WIU. Which makes WIU seniors wonder why Westen can't make this ceremony happen. Western's solution has been to have an appointment-based celebration where you choose a 15-minute time slot to walk across the stage and receive your diploma. Students are only allowed four tickets to receive their diplomas and take a picture. Students are upset with this option because the University has made it possible to host events such as football games, and homecoming. A few days ago the news broke out that WIU will be having homecoming activities. In their Facebook post that released the news about the homecoming activities, they stated that they were happy to announce the event and have been working hard over the past few weeks “because we can”. Students were very upset with the wording and the amount of time that was put into planning homecoming rather than a way to make an In-person graduation work for students that have attended the Univerity for the past few years.