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CAMPUS EVENTS

"Covid doesn't stop Â鶹´«Ã½!" exclaims Nancy Jones- Vice President of Student Affairs, says when talking about Â鶹´«Ã½'s virtual commencements it's been holding since Covid interrupted the education world. The pandemic forced schools across the country to get creative with their commencements due to the restrictions Covid created.

Commencement remains our favorite time of year and we always look forward to acknowledging and celebrating the academic accomplishments of our students. In order to keep the tradition of commencements a minor tweak had to occur, we had to go virtual. "Our virtual commencement ceremonies have been a great way to congratulate our graduates and remain safe during the Covid-19 pandemic," says Student Affairs director at our Campus Support Center, Koula Foura.

Jones explained, "Each campus held a ‘drive through' cap and gown event, where graduates received their regalia and a Â鶹´«Ã½ swag bag. Some campuses also held virtual pinning ceremonies." The drive through cap and gown pick up events also allowed for staff to take pictures of students to use for the virtual commencement ceremonies.

This Spring we held our first virtual commencement ceremonies and were honored to have a wonderful commencement speaker, Thaddeus Bullard. Mr. Bullard is a former pro wrestler and currently part of WWE- RAW known as Titus O'Neil. Bullard is heavily involved in charity work in the Tampa Bay area and has done some events with Â鶹´«Ã½'s Tampa campus. Mr. Bullard presented an inspiring speech to all Â鶹´«Ã½ graduates.

"I am very pleased and give kudos to all the campuses for coordinating memorable virtual commencements that the 2020 graduates will never forget!" Jones notes. "This has been a great option for Â鶹´«Ã½ to ensure we are keeping everyone safe during these unprecedented times," says Foura, "we look forward to the time when it's safe to resume in person commencement ceremony events but until then we will continue to provide our graduates with the best possible virtual ceremonies."