BRUNSWICK — Bowdoin College seniors will officially become alumni on Saturday, but it will likely be another year before they get the chance to walk across the steps of the Walker Art Building.
The college announced last month that, in light of the coronavirus pandemic, seniors will gather virtually on May 23 — the day they would have celebrated Bowdoin’s 215th commencement. An in-person, on-campus ceremony and celebration will be hosted in May 2021.
A virtual event will “be nothing like the real thing,” Bowdoin President Clayton Rose wrote in a letter to students.
“One of the disheartening aspects of this public health crisis is that you are not able to spend your last weeks on campus together, helping one another celebrate your years here, reliving your memories, acknowledging your many individual and collective accomplishments, enjoying Maine, having fun together, and taking part in Baccalaureate and Commencement in the presence of your friends and family,” he wrote. “I am very sorry that this is so.”
Still, Rose said, the virtual ceremony on May 23, will mark the “well-earned milestone” of the 473 class of 2020 graduates until they can gather again.
Events, including speeches and a running list of the names of graduates, will be streamed on the college’s website and Facebook page.
Students are expected to receive their diplomas sometime in June, the company that produces them is operating with limited staff during the pandemic and therefore cannot get them made and sent as promptly as normal.
Between the graduates, faculty and student’s friends and family, roughly 3,500 people attend graduation on Bowdoin’s quad each year, making it a traditionally busy weekend for downtown Brunswick.
With restaurants in town closed to dine-in customers, retailers offering only curbside pickup and hotels prohibited from hosting guests until June, graduation weekend would likely look far different from past years, even if graduates and their families were able to gather.
The college typically hosts events and meals on campus during the weekend, but business owners usually see families come into town for breakfast, ice cream, coffee or shopping, said Patti Spencer-Yost, marketing and communications coordinator for the Brunswick Downtown Association.
So many events have already been canceled that she has not heard any concerns or complaints directly about the graduation being canceled, but it will certainly have an impact, she said, adding, “I think the hotels and inns feel the loss the most.”
The Brunswick Hotel reserves rooms exclusively to Bowdoin College family members during graduation weekend, booking all 51 rooms nearly a year in advance.
The Brunswick Inn also caters to Bowdoin College families in the spring. Owner Eileen Horner said earlier this spring that between early March and June, roughly 85% of her business is generated by the college.
Area high schools have also had to adapt plans for graduation.
Morse High School in Bath is hosting its ceremony at the Wiscasset Municipal Airport, while Topsham’s Mt. Ararat High School is relocating to the Topsham Fairgrounds. Brunswick school officials are working on revamping their graduation event after plans for a drive-through style graduation were criticized for being too lackluster.
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