Spring 2020 commencement at Harvey Mudd College will be postponed to a later date due to coronavirus concerns, HMC President Maria Klawe announced in an email to students Saturday.
While there will be an “meaningful event” to mark the day when seniors receive their degrees in May, Klawe said HMC will not hold a virtual ceremony, as multiple other schools across the country have recently announced.
“Please know that we will find a new date for an on-campus commencement ceremony when our graduates and their families can return safely to celebrate with friends and loved ones,” Klawe said.
“We look forward to the moment when, with these difficult days behind us, we can fully celebrate the Class of 2020 here in Claremont,” Klawe added.
Commencement was originally scheduled for May 17. Artificial intelligence expert and Stanford professor Fei Fei Li was set to deliver the keynote speech.
Harvey Mudd joins Pitzer College and Claremont McKenna College, which announced yesterday they would postpone their commencement ceremonies. Scripps College and Pomona College have not yet announced their commencement plans.
HMC, along with the other four undergraduate Claremont Colleges, announced that they were moving all classes online March 12.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
This article was last updated at March 28, 2020 at 9:41 a.m.
Maria Heeter SC ’22 is an economics major from Dover, New Hampshire. She previously served as TSL’s fall 2020 editor-in-chief.