Submitted Photo Fredonia President Stephen H. Kolison Jr. congratulates one of the 443 graduates who completed the stage walk.

It was staged in a different venue without packed crowds that the coronavirus had eliminated from in-person events everywhere, but that didn’t deter SUNY Fredonia from creating a memorable in-person Commencement experience to celebrate the achievements of members of the Class of 2021.

Students completing undergraduate and graduate degree programs were given the opportunity to experience the “walk” – in this case crossing the stage in the more intimate King Concert Hall decorated with balloons and flowers – much like they would have done on a raised platform in the cavernous Steele Hall Fieldhouse, site of Commencement for decades. These ceremonial walks were held over nearly 20 hours across four days.

Key principals of Fredonia Commencements recognized these soon-to-be-minted graduates. President Stephen H. Kolison Jr., in his first year at Fredonia, acknowledged each graduate and engaged in the ubiquitous elbow bump that supplanted traditional handshakes.

Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Kevin Kearns, Vice President for Enrollment and Student Services Cedric Howard, Interim Vice President for University Advancement Betty Gossett and Vice President for Finance and Administration Michael Metzger placed diploma covers into the hands of students on alternating days. Distinguished Service Professor Jack Croxton and Associate Provost Judith Horowitz shared name reader duties.

“I think it went well; the feedback that we received was very positive. The student excitement was a reflection of how well it was received,” reported Commencement Committee Co-chair Denise Szalkowski.

Ms. Szalkowski, who has served on the Commencement Committee since she was appointed assistant to the president 19 years ago, applauded Kolison for arranging to be a part of nearly 450 individual stage walks. “He was there for over 19 hours total, recognizing every student who participated in a stage walk; he bumped elbows, congratulated each one of them and was photographed with them,” Szalkowski said.

“Being his first Commencement, it was a real honor for him to be able to personally congratulate every student who walked the stage in King,” said Szalkowski, who co-chaired the committee with Raleigh Hawk.

A grand total of 443 students – 410 undergraduates and 33 graduate students attired in the traditional cap and gown – were welcomed by greeters who outlined the Commencement protocol, while “Pomp and Circumstance” played softly in the background.

What’s noteworthy with this year’s program, compared to traditional ceremonies, was the amount of time a graduate is the center of attention, according to Szalkowski. “Each student had more time to walk across the stage, to be formally recognized and photographed,” she said. “It was more personal, a little bit more intimate.”

Message boards containing photographs and greetings or congratulations from family members were placed along the first two rows of balcony seats, so they could be viewed by students as they walked to the stage.

All ceremonial walks were recorded by the Marketing and Communications department, led by Jeff Woodard. James Gibbons, the department’s videographer/editor, employed his talent to ensure professionally recorded walks of the highest quality that will become part of a Commencement video to be released on the SUNY Fredonia website on Saturday, May 15, at 10 a.m., Szalkowski noted.

The Commencement Committee began serious discussions to develop ideas for some kind of ceremony near the end of 2020, but a subsequent uptick in positive COVID-19 cases forced the committee to pull back on those plans, Szalkowski recalled, severely diminishing hopes that a traditional Commencement could be held. The arrival of coronavirus vaccines and lower positivity rates ultimately made it feasible to put into place a stage walk proposal, with a limited number of students at any given time and other safety guidelines in place.

“We missed the families, the School of Music, having everybody in one space, but considering the challenges that we were facing at the time, for the safety of our students and staff, this was the best alternative that we could offer,” Szalkowski noted, “but we look forward to holding a traditional ceremony going forward for future classes.”