News
Author: Corporate Communication and Marketing Division
Published: 11/12/2020
Stellenbosch University (SU) will continue with its hybrid graduation ceremonies, which will include small face-to-face interactions and live streaming for the remainder of its graduands.
In a communiqué to staff and PhD graduands, Prof Stan du Plessis, Chair of the Institutional Committee for Business Continuity (ICBC) said that the ICBC had decided, after careful consideration and much discussion, that SU would proceed with its small face-to-face graduation ceremonies for doctoral graduands, honorary doctorates, Chancellor's awards recipients and the Chancellor's medallist. These ceremonies are scheduled from Monday, 14 December to Wednesday, 16 December 2020.
“We were faced with a very important, but difficult decision on Thursday afternoon (10 December 2020): whether to proceed with our hybrid graduation ceremonies scheduled for next week while South Africa finds itself in the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic," Prof Du Plessis said. “Our decision to go ahead with the face-to-face doctoral ceremonies was based on the format of the small events, our comprehensive COVID-19 protocol for the graduation ceremonies and the related precautions, as well as the fact that we fully comply with all level 1 regulations. The attendance of the physical graduation ceremonies is completely voluntary for graduands and guests. Another consideration is the fact that we are so close to the events and that graduands and their guests would have incurred considerable costs for travel arrangements."