Campus & Community

When Washington University students weren’t able to return to campus in mid-March due to COVID-19, faculty fellows and their families living on the South 40 stepped in to tend to the large student-run garden outside the Alumni House.

We are deeply concerned by any action of the United States government to prevent entire segments of the academic community from traveling into the country as students, teachers, researchers and scholars. The recent presidential proclamation directed at some Chinese scholars is only the most recent example of steps this administration has taken to make it more difficult for people to come here for purposes of education and research.

Across St. Louis, America and the globe, the 3,298 graduates of Washington University in St. Louis gathered in front of screens May 14-15 to watch recognition ceremonies for their schools, academic departments and affinity groups. The virtual events replaced on-campus Commencement, which was postponed for the first time in university history due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Washington University faculty, students and staff routinely travel around the world to conduct research, study and strengthen relationships with partner institutions. Getting hundreds of WashU community members back from abroad during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic presented an enormous challenge. Here’s how it happened.

From digital memory books, Class of 2020 regalia T-shirts and messages of congratulations from celebrities and athletes, Washington University in St. Louis staff found new ways to celebrate students and honor the tradition of Commencement in the era of coronavirus.

Washington University in St. Louis plans to welcome the graduating Class of 2020 back to campus for an in-person Commencement ceremony on May 30, 2021. This event will take the place of the ceremony originally scheduled for May 15, 2020, that was canceled due to public health concerns in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While they can never replace the exhilaration of being in a cap and gown sitting in Brookings Quadrangle surrounded by friends, family and faculty, plans are in place at Washington University in St. Louis to recognize our graduates’ important milestone through online ceremonies and celebrations.

Help celebrate and show your pride for the WashU Class of 2020 by visiting the Commencement website and downloading social media stickers and frames, Zoom backgrounds and printable signs.

Listen to the cast and crew of “Twins: The Musical”; the singers of the Sensasians a cappella group; and the alumni members of Mosaic Whispers, the oldest all-gender a cappella group at Washington University in St. Louis, perform songs both beautiful and heartbreaking. We challenge you not to cry.

With the cancellation of the May 15 Commencement ceremony due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Chancellor Andrew D. Martin has appointed a 22-member Alternate Commencement Committee to provide recommendations on how the university can appropriately recognize the Class of 2020 in an in-person gathering when it is safe to do so.