Can you feel it? Spring is here, bringing with it Spring Term!! As we head towards better weather, many of you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Your time with LBCC is now on a countdown … to graduation!
On June 15 at 5:30 p.m. on LBCC's main campus in Albany, we will get to celebrate graduation together in a more traditional-style ceremony...with a few tweaks.
Over the last two years, nothing in the world has looked “normal.” The Covid-19 pandemic changed nearly every event worldwide. Those who graduated missed out on the pomp and circumstance of old and blazed a new trail of “CARmencements.” LB had no choice but to adapt to this mode of graduation as well.
CARmencement was not the ideal way to celebrate the graduates, but according to Leslie Hammond, Dean of Academic Foundations and Extended Learning, it introduced a new way to look at graduation ceremonies.
“With CARmencement, students would drive-through with their families and there was a lot of, like, whooping and everything for every single student,” said Hammond. “We’d read what they were going to do afterward and their families were right there.”
“One thing our president, vice presidents, and [the LBCC Foundation's] board of trustees really loved,” she continued, “was seeing their families right there behind them. It was really special.”
After the second CARmencement, there was some disappointment in not having a traditional ceremony. Portions of the new style of ceremony were loved while parts of a traditional graduation ceremony were missed. The Graduation Planning Committee decided to send out a survey to ask the students how they would like to see the two combined.
Through the results, they came up with the following plan:
- A traditional ceremony will be held outside at LBCC’s Main Campus in Albany, Oregon.
- There will be no long speeches. One or two five-minute talks.
- Families can walk with their students down to the stage.
- Students will go on stage and families will walk down in front of the stage. A perfect setup for taking pictures.
- Faculty will flank the student seating to cheer them on individually as they make their way to the stage.
The Student Leadership Council will host a celebration in the courtyard after the recessional.
Danea Fouts, President of the SLC, is excited to see how this comes to fruition as plans become more concrete.
“I believe this commencement ceremony will certainly be something special. The college is trying its utmost to blend the personal touch that CARmencement enabled with the pomp and circumstance of a more traditional ceremony. I am positive that the result will be unique to our year and college experience coming out of Covid-19,” Fouts said.
As we come to the end of the year, finances can run a little short. There are resources on campus that can help with some of the expenses of graduation, specifically the regalia. If you need help with obtaining graduation regalia, contact Rob Camp, Advisor to the Student Leadership Council. He can be reached by phone at (541) 917-4459, or email at campr@linnbenton.edu.
Don’t let regalia, however, stop you from participating in graduation activities. Whether you’re in a cap and gown or not, everyone who has earned the right to walk can walk.
Check here for the latest updates.
At-A-Glance
What: LBCC Graduation 2023
When: June 15 at 5:30 p.m.
Where: LBCC Main Campus, 6500 Pacific Blvd. SW, Albany, Oregon
When: June 15 at 5:30 p.m.
Where: LBCC Main Campus, 6500 Pacific Blvd. SW, Albany, Oregon
To Apply for Graduation: https://lfforms.linnbenton.edu/Forms/GradApp
