Events have been canceled all over the country, with rules for no large gatherings of people.  This can include concerts and festivals,  as well as graduation ceremonies for American River College for spring 2020.

ARC President Thomas Greene says he understands why these ceremonies matter, especially for the students who have worked their way to transfer or graduate.

“Recognizing ARC’s commencement ceremony is a unique opportunity for students to celebrate their accomplishments and for the college to celebrate student success, we share the sense of loss felt by so many by its cancellation,” Greene said in a statement provided to the Current.

Even though the original ceremony may be canceled, other options are being explored, according to Greene.  

“All Los Rios colleges have canceled their May ceremonies because we do not believe the current situation will be resolved by that time,” Greene said. “We are exploring opportunities for alternative celebrations and will communicate those if or when they are scheduled.”

Such alternative ideas for commencement include a virtual reality ceremony, a small indoor ceremony instead of a large outdoor one, postponing the ceremony to a later date, or just opting out. All of these were mentioned in a recent email to spring 2020 graduating students sent by Jeffrey Stephenson, vice president of Student Services.