Colleges and universities around the Capital District of New York and the country have set the precedent of postponing commencement for the graduating class of 2020, rather than canceling all events. We, the graduates of The Sage Colleges, are entitled to an in-person commencement where we will be given the opportunity to walk across the stage with our peers at a later date when there is not a risk of COVID-19. We are calling upon President Christopher Ames and The Sage Colleges administration to do their part in honoring their undergraduate and graduate students by postponing in-person commencement ceremonies until a later date.
Why is this important?
As we just recently learned, The Sage Colleges has made the decision to cancel commencement and all related events for the undergraduate and graduate class of 2020. The President of The Sage Colleges, Christopher Ames, announced that the college will be developing an "online tribute" to students as a form of virtual-graduation. We are devastated by the decision to cancel graduation rather than postpone it to a time when there is not a threat of COVID-19. This pandemic has already taken so much from us. We have been unable to finish classes in person, health science majors have been denied the ability to do senior capstone clinicals in hospitals, and we have not been able to say goodbye to some of our closest friends. As students, we have dedicated four years of our lives and four years of tuition to The Sage Colleges. We have worked hard for our education, spent countless hours staying up late studying, getting up before the sun to commute to classes or clinicals, and for many of us we have even cried over classes. Although we were given the option to come back and graduate with the class of 2021, we deserve to be recognized with our friends and peers as the class of 2020. Both undergraduate and graduate students deserve to be honored for our hard work in an in-person commencement ceremony during the late summer to fall months, or when it is safe to gather. Parents, family, and significant others have also been by our side for the last four years supporting everything we accomplished. They deserve to watch us graduate and celebrate with us as we reach a crucial milestone in our young lives. I encourage ALL undergraduate students, graduate students, family, and students of future graduating classes to sign this petition and show President Christopher Ames that we are "Sage Strong" and we demand an in-person commencement.
