Announcement of Commencement Postponement - March 18, 2020

Dear Campus Community,

I write today to share with you the deeply disappointing news that due to the ongoing prohibition on large gatherings and the continued spread of COVID-19, Framingham State University is making the difficult decision to postpone commencement, which was scheduled for Sunday, May 24th.

This is not a decision we take lightly. Commencement is the highlight of the academic calendar, and a time for you, your friends, families, and professors to celebrate your outstanding accomplishments. Some schools across the country are considering canceling commencement all together, but that is not a step I am willing to take. Given the level of uncertainty about when our lives will return to normal, I cannot provide you with a definitive answer today on how and when we will celebrate your accomplishments, but I promise you that we will. Our commencement committee is going to be working on alternative plans, which we will share with you as soon as we can.

As recently as a few weeks ago, none of us could have predicted how much COVID-19 was going to upend our lives. Seemingly overnight, our spring semester was turned on its head. We have never experienced anything like this, which is why I am so grateful for the level of resiliency our community has shown. Our faculty, staff, and students have accepted this difficult reality with a determination to take the steps needed to finish out the semester in a totally new environment. It’s going to be very challenging, but we are going to get through this together.

Javier

F. Javier Cevallos, Ph.D.

President