The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/commencement/)
Across the nation, classes have begun to transition towards being fully online. In response to the worsening spread of COVID-19, Commencement plans have been affected as well, throughout of the Ivy League.
In an email to students on Friday, President Martha E. Pollack said that commencement will not be canceled, although it will be postponed from its typical date on Memorial Day weekend.
As mounting concerns over COVID-19 become increasingly prevalent, the class of 2020 raises concerns about the future of their commencement celebrations.
Less than a week after Cornell unexpectedly cancelled all instruction until April 6, the University has finished ironing out details for how the academic calendar will be structured following spring break.
Nye told graduates of Cornell University’s class of 2019 that this time was the most exciting time of human history. In a speech littered with science jokes and references to his eponymous show, Nye touched on everything from climate change to education for women.
The Cornell Convocation Committee delayed its announcement of the 2019 convocation speaker Thursday, attributing the last-minute change to a contentious Student Assembly vote earlier in the evening.
The relationship between ends and beginnings is parasitic. For something to end, it must already exist. For something to begin, it must not yet be. Burrowed deep inside the ends of things dwells a promise of the new. That promise — of a beginning — must slowly consume the ending within which it is sheltered until it is material and its host is not.
She noted that her presence as a woman of color on the stage was a shift from the original vision of the founders of the University.
“Today the political climate only underscores the importance of renewing and reaffirming Cornell’s ‘any person’ legacy — our commitment to equal opportunity,” Kotlikoff said.
“You are the best our country has to offer, so please go out and be generous and be good,” he said to the Class of 2016.