Dartmouth College plans to hold an in-person commencement on campus in June this year, but attendance will be limited to graduating seniors only, Dartmouth President Phil Hanlon said Tuesday.
The ceremony will be streamed live online for family members and other guests to view, Hanlon wrote in a Tuesday email to the Class of 2021.
“Continued travel and quarantine restrictions and the lack of global availability of a COVID-19 vaccine necessitate this decision,” Hanlon wrote.
Participation in the event also will require testing, quarantining, masking and social distancing, he said.
Plans could change based on public health data, as well as college and state guidelines related to gatherings, he said. College officials will decide by the end of March exactly when the ceremony and related events will take place.
Dartmouth held a virtual ceremony last June for the Class of 2020.
The college had hoped to also hold a delayed celebration for last year’s graduating class, but that won’t be happening, Hanlon said.
“None of these decisions come without heartbreak — for our students and their families, for our alumni, and for those of us in senior leadership who are faced with having to make them,” he said. “But it is our collective resolve to prioritize the health and safety of our community and our belief in the enduring nature of the Dartmouth fellowship that continues to strengthen our bonds, even in the midst of distance and disappointment.”
The University of New Hampshire, meanwhile, is planning in-person ceremonies for both the Class of 2020 and the Class of 2021.
The earlier class will be celebrated during two outdoor ceremonies on May 15, with a third ceremony possible on May 14 if enough graduates express interest in returning.
The Class of 2021 will graduate the following weekend, with five ceremonies based on academic colleges. Each graduate will be allowed two guests.