Kean University held in-person commencement ceremonies last year.
When Lamont Repollet, president of Kean University, considered how to pull off an in-person graduation ceremony during the coronavirus pandemic, he remembered walking across an auditorium stage during his own commencement nearly 27 years ago as a first-generation college student at the College of New Jersey and being engulfed by a feeling of accomplishment.
“It was the greatest moment in my life,” Repollet said. “If we can give that to our students, all students, but more so those individuals who had the perseverance and the grit to finish, that’s important.”
With those students in mind half of whom are first-generation college students Kean, which is also located in New Jersey, announced it will move forward with its second year of socially distanced, sized-down graduation ceremonies on the university’s football field during the pandemic. Repollet will be elbow bumping and taking socially distanced