Commencement

In consideration of restrictions recently announced from the both St. Charles County and St. Louis County as well as guidance from the CDC limiting gatherings to 50 people for the next 8 weeks and to adequately protect our graduates, faculty and staff, we have made the difficult decision to cancel all in-person commencement and related activities for the spring semester. Commencement represents an important celebration of our graduates’ academic journey and accomplishments and we are working to develop alternative plans to celebrate our graduates’ accomplishments. Additional information will be emailed to those registered for graduation as plans emerge and posted on this page. Please check back for updates.

FAQs

• Why has Maryville decided to cancel commencement so far in advance? Isn’t there still a chance the coronavirus outbreak will subside in time for it to be okay to gather for commencement?

  In consideration of restrictions recently announced from the both St. Charles County and St. Louis County as well as guidance from the CDC limiting gatherings to 50 people for the next 8 weeks and to adequately protect our graduates, faculty and staff, we have made the difficult decision to cancel all in-person commencement and related activities for the spring semester. We recognize that many of students have travel and other plans that cannot be adjusted on short notice. Commencement represents an important celebration of our graduates’ academic journey and accomplishments and we are working to develop alternative plans to celebrate our graduates’ accomplishments. Additional information will be emailed to those registered for graduation as plans emerge and posted on Maryville.edu/commencement.

• 
  Why can’t Maryville still hold commencement, but do multiple events with fewer people?

  With the current threat of the coronavirus, it is unclear if it will be safe for us to host even smaller ceremonies in late April and early May without putting our community at risk. Even our smaller ceremonies typically have several hundred guests and students in attendance. For this reason and out of an abundance of caution and concern for the health and wellbeing of our campus community, we will not be transitioning to smaller in-person ceremonies.

• 
  Will Maryville completely cancel commencement, or will they still hold hooding ceremonies for small groups of grad students?

  At this time, all in-person commencement-related activities, including hooding ceremonies, pinning ceremonies, and awards ceremonies are cancelled. Commencement represents an important celebration of our graduates’ academic journey and accomplishments and we are working to develop alternative plans to celebrate our graduates’ accomplishments. Additional information will be emailed to those registered for graduation as plans emerge and posted on Maryville.edu/commencement.