In-person Convocation celebrations to be scheduled at a later date

SACKVILLE, NB —Mount Allison University will confer degrees for the Class of 2020 virtually. The broadcast, scheduled for 2 p.m. (ADT) on Monday, May 25, will see approximately 400 graduands receive their degrees in absentia.

“While the Class of 2020 will not be able to cross the Convocation Hall stage in person just yet, we want to ensure they are virtually celebrated and provide them with a special Mount Allison experience,” says Mount Allison University President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Jean-Paul Boudreau.

“Their contributions to the University community over the past number of years have been extensive and we are excited to mark their accomplishments on May 25.”

The virtual event, to be available on the University’s YouTube Channel and social media platforms, will allow graduates to receive their degrees on schedule and better assist them as they prepare for the next stage such as entering the workforce or pursuing further studies.

Mount Allison Students Union President and member of the Class of 2020 Emelyana Titarenko will have her degree conferred virtually on May. 25. Titarenko is also a member of the organizing committee for the virtual celebration.

“Although we won’t get a chance to have the convocation that we had hoped and dream of, hopefully this special conferring of degrees offers an extraordinary way of celebrating our achievements despite these unprecedented times,” says Titarenko.

The Class of 2020 will receive the traditional hand-printed diplomas, printed by Mount Allison research professor and renowned artist Thaddeus Holownia. Holownia has been printing Mount Allison diplomas using the letterpress process at the Anchorage Press in Jolicure, New Brunswick for more than a quarter of a century. Diplomas will be couriered to graduates in the weeks following the virtual ceremony.

Boudreau says plans for an in-person Convocation ceremony will take place at a later date.

“Although the uncertainties surrounding the present COVID-19 pandemic make it impossible to provide firm dates for these in-person graduation ceremonies at this time, we are committed to ensuring the Class of 2020, and their friends and families, has the opportunity to be celebrated as they deserve to be.”

Further details for the May 25 virtual ceremony will be available at www.mta.ca/convocation