Canton Daily Ledger IOWA CITY, IOWA—Despite this year's unprecedented challenges, students continue to excel at the University of Iowa. As the latest cohort of Hawkeyes prepares to graduate, their accomplishments are celebrated. In December, more than 2,100 University of Iowa undergraduate, graduate, and professional students graduated under extraordinary circumstances. With the coronavirus pandemic upending traditional educational practices across campus and the country-including commencement ceremonies-2020 proved to be a challenging year. Alex Briney, Astoria, is one of the graduates. Briney earned a Bachelor of Science in Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa's College of Engineering. Since March, Briney and other students at Iowa made sacrifices to maintain health and safety. Instruction for a majority of courses moved online, face masks and hand sanitizer became the norm, internships and study abroad programs were largely suspended, stages remained dark. In fact, most events were held virtually or removed from the calendar. Even the Homecoming parade was dubbed the "Stay-at-Homecoming" parade.