Local Catholic universities make pandemic adjustments for 2021 graduations

More than a year into the pandemic, coronavirus restrictions will still have a significant impact on graduation ceremonies at Catholic universities located in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

College officials made their plans for commencement during an uncertain time of the pandemic – vaccination rates continue to rise, but cases of COVID-19 remain high in some parts of the United States. Representatives of some of the local Catholic universities said they wanted to also honor the Class of 2020, whose members graduated during the height of last year’s public health restrictions.

“We want to do everything we can to safely highlight our students’ achievements,” said Catherine Subrizi, spokeswoman for Notre Dame of Maryland University.

Both Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg and Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore will hold outdoor ceremonies. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is encouraging people to hold larger gatherings outside because the risk of spreading the coronavirus is much lower.

Loyola University will hold its graduation ceremony at 11 a.m. May 22 at M&T Bank Stadium in downtown Baltimore. The ceremony will be held for both the Class of 2021 and the Class of 2020.

As another precaution, Mount St. Mary’s University will hold four ceremonies for its 2021 graduates May 15 and 16 at its Waldron Family Stadium and will limit the guests at each ceremony.

Notre Dame of Maryland will hold its graduation ceremony virtually at 11 a.m. May 23. But the week before that, the university will invite members of the Class of 2021 and the Class of 2020 to return to campus to take pictures and to physically receive their diplomas.

Meanwhile, like other universities across the country, Mount St. Mary’s will require students to be vaccinated if they wish to return to campus in the coming school year.

Officials at Loyola University Maryland and Notre Dame of Maryland said the institutions had not yet made a decision about requiring vaccinations next fall.

“At this point, we are strongly encouraging – but not yet requiring – members of our community to receive one of the available COVID-19 vaccines when they are available to you,” said Molly Roby, a spokeswoman for Loyola. “We are currently in discussions about requiring our community to get vaccinated.”

Email Tim Swift at tswift@catholicreview.org

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