The university announced that the Class of 2022 will be having a live and in-person on-campus commencement, according to an email sent to community members by university president Ron Liebowitz on Nov. 22. This will be the first in-person commencement since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
“We can’t wait to celebrate with our graduates and their families,” reads the university’s commencement page.
The commencement for the class of 2022 will be held on May 22, 2022, according to the email. The president also informally invited graduates from the class of 2020 and the class of 2021 to attend as well, according to the university’s commencement page. A formal invitation will be sent to the graduates of the previous two classes in December, according to the page.
“I hope you will join us for what promises to be a very special day,” wrote Liebowitz in his email.
A video announcement was released on the university’s YouTube page where the president addressed the graduates of the class of 2020 and class of 2021.
“I’m grateful for the resilience, flexibility and resolve [the students of the class of 2020 and 2021] demonstrated during [their] final year at Brandeis and in the time since,” said Liebowitz in the video.
The last commencement held by the university in person was for the class of 2019. The university held virtual commencement events for the class of 2020 and class of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a university page.
An announcement was made in February 2021 canceling the class of 2021’s in person commencement, according to a previous Hoot article. The university decided to cancel due to the slow vaccine roll out in the state of Massachusetts, the increasing infection rate, the gathering limits set by Massachusetts state and the new strains of COVID-19 spreading, according to the article. In place of the in person ceremony there was a virtual commencement with pre-recorded material, according to an email sent by the president in February 2021.
Graduates from the class of 2020 and the class of 2021 were invited to attend in-person commencements in future years, according to a previous Hoot article.
