Tech postpones spring graduation
A screenshot from Louisiana Tech University President Les Guice's video announcing the spring graduation date change.
Louisiana Tech University announced Tuesday a pair of coronavirus-related measures: spring commencement ceremonies will be moved to late summer, while the first half of summer classes will remain online-only.
Spring graduations were originally slated for May 23 but have now been rescheduled tentatively for Aug. 15. The university closed in-person classes on March 16 as the coronavirus began to gain traction in Louisiana, and while Gov. John Bel Edwards’ current stay-at-home order is set to expire next week, where the state will be in the reopening procedure by May 23 is unclear.
In a video addressed to seniors on social media, Tech President Les Guice said the choice to hold live commencements later in the summer came after polling seniors on their preference.
“We decided we’d reach out to you and find out how you wanted to celebrateyour commencement,” Guice said.
“You told us you wanted to do a separate commencement later this summer, so that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
Guice said the ceremonies will likely be split into two separate sessions, as per usual for spring graduation, but more than two sessions may be needed based on state and federal guidelines in August.
“I’m proud of the way you’ve adapted in responding to the challenges both this year with the coronavirus and last year with the tornado that passed through our campus in April,” Guice told seniors in the video.
Meanwhile, in a Tuesday update on the university website, Guice announced that the first half of the summer quarter, which runs June 2-26, will continue to be conducted online. Advising for both the summer and fall quarters will begin next week, with registration beginning May 4.
Advising sessions will be conducted via Zoom, Facetime, email or phone call.
Guice said a large selection of General Education Requirement classes will be offered in the summer quarter, as well as classes the university sees as “bottlenecks” in students’ academic careers.
The announcement comes a week after Grambling State University announced that its Summer Session 1 classes would also remain online-only.
