ECSU Holds 170th Commencement Ceremony Saturday, Aug. 22
Robert Kelly-Goss
Posted On August 19, 2020
On Saturday, Aug. 22, Elizabeth City State University will hold its 170th commencement ceremony for the Class of 2020 at the Mickey L. Burnim Fine Arts Center.
Scheduled to take place in May, the commencement ceremony was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The rescheduled event will be a “drive-thru” ceremony, providing a safe environment for students, faculty, and staff.
Beginning at 9 a.m., students will arrive at the Fine Arts Center. During the three-hour ceremony, a limited number of students will enter the auditorium at different times, to be greeted by Chancellor Karrie G. Dixon, Provost Farrah Ward, and Dr. Shelia Williams, Chairperson of Education, Psychology and Health.
“When our graduates came to ECSU, it was a very different world from when they left campus last March, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Chancellor Dixon. “These unprecedented times call for extraordinary measures such as our drive-thru commencement.”
Adhering to Gov. Roy Cooper’s executive order, only 10 people will be allowed in the Fine Arts Center at one time. Masks also must be worn on campus at all times.
Graduates and their families will enter the campus at the main entrance. The driver will drop off the graduate and two guests.
The graduate and guests will enter the building and wait until their names are called. Once the graduate’s name is called, he or she will walk across the stage and take a photo with Chancellor Dixon.
Graduates will then exit the stage and return to the lobby where they will receive a gift bag. The driver will remain in the vehicle, in line, until the graduate exits the building to be picked up.
A commencement program and lapel pin will be mailed to graduates who could not attend the ceremony.
After the ceremony, graduates and their guests will find photo backdrops across campus. They are invited to stop at the various backdrops for graduate and family photos.
A commencement video with a message from Chancellor Dixon will be produced and posted on the ECSU website, www.ecsu.edu, at a later date.
For graduates, friends and family not attending the ceremony, it will be live-streamed HERE.
