{"id":4774,"date":"2021-05-07T11:26:46","date_gmt":"2021-05-07T16:26:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/?p=4774"},"modified":"2021-05-07T11:26:46","modified_gmt":"2021-05-07T16:26:46","slug":"concordia-university-chicago-plans-additional-in-person-ceremony-for-2020-and-2021-graduates-this-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/?p=4774","title":{"rendered":"Concordia University Chicago Plans Additional In-Person Ceremony for 2020 and 2021 Graduates This Fall"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Although this Saturday\u2019s commencement at Concordia University Chicago will be virtual,\u00a0 the university may hold an additional in-person commencement ceremony for 2020 and 2021 graduates in the fall.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand how important the act of crossing the stage is to students who complete their degrees and I want our students to know that we\u2019ve heard their feedback about an in-person ceremony,\u201d university events manager and commencement co-chair La Toya Keys said in an e-mail. \u201cI\u2019m glad to share that the University is finalizing details for an in-person ceremony, to take place in early fall, which will provide this opportunity to the Class of 2020 (May and Dec.) and this semester\u2019s Spring Class of 2021.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is not yet clear exactly when the fall ceremony will be held or how recent graduates will be able to sign up to participate.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCoordinating such a large event, whether in-person or in a virtual environment takes a significant amount of time and resources,\u201d said Keys. \u201cHowever, it\u2019s all worth it as commencement is the ultimate recognition and celebration of all we do here at the University.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

CUC\u2019s campus is already abuzz with graduation-related festivities and celebrations, many of which have not happened in over a year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One annual event that returned in 2021 is the Marty Party, which was held on April 30. This year\u2019s outdoor celebration included a live karaoke band, churros, grilled food, and inflatable obstacle courses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Marty Party is the combined effort of several on-campus groups teaming up to put on the event. \u201cWorking with OSLI, SAAC, LSU, BSU, and Spiritual Life all together has allowed us to work with our different budgets and resources to throw a great end of the year party for all the students here on campus,\u201d said Abby Schult, sophomore and coordinator for the Marty Party.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While the groups made an effort to keep the Marty Party festivities as close to normal as possible, they had to make some accommodations due to COVID-19 restrictions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing that has changed is that we definitely have to be more conscious of is COVID-19 related circumstances, such as sanitizing and crowd sizes, but because it is an outdoor event, it is much easier to handle,\u201d said Schult.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While commencement will still be held virtually for Spring 2021 graduates, the Service of Praise and Consecration is being hosted on-campus in the Chapel of Our Lord at 5:00 p.m. on May 7.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThose completing our Church-professional programs will be receiving their certificates, but all our graduating students will be recognized as we give thanks to God for this important milestone in your lives,\u201d said Deaconess Betsy Karkan.\u00a0\u201cThese words of encouragement and commitment will acknowledge that <\/span>all <\/span><\/i>good and godly vocations\u2014 both in the church and the world\u2014come from our Lord and are lived in response to His love.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For those interested in attending the Service of Praise and Consecration, register for seating <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>. The service will also be livestreamed on the University\u2019s <\/span>website<\/span><\/a> and their <\/span>Vimeo<\/span><\/a> page.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you want to watch the commencement ceremonies, you can find the livestreams under the \u201c<\/span>Commencement\u201d tab on the University\u2019s website.<\/span><\/a> Undergraduate commencement will be held at 2:00 p.m. on May 8, with graduate commencement held at 4:00 p.m. on the same day. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":4877,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[172,228],"class_list":["post-4774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-concordia-news","tag-commencement","tag-cuc-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}