In groups of four or fewer, families and loved ones whistled and cheered beneath their masks as University of Tennessee at Chattanooga undergraduates walked across the stage at McKenzie Arena at Friday morning's commencement ceremony.
The event was one of nine graduations for UTC undergraduate and graduate students this spring. Graduations at Chattanooga-area colleges have taken on different formats this year, with strategies such as holding ceremonies over multiple days to accommodate COVID-19 precautions.
While commencement speakers noted that the ceremony was unusual compared to years past, graduates and faculty said the ceremony was well-organized.
"I mean, at least we got a graduation," said business management graduate Alex Palmer. "I'm thankful they figured out a way to do it in person. It was really nice of them to figure that out."
Carolyn Runyon, director of special collections, said she liked this year's format but missed some aspects of previous graduations.
"I liked the smaller ceremonies, I feel like they're a little bit more personal, so I got to talk to the students that we've worked with directly more than I would have in a normal massive ceremony," Runyon said. "I did miss the live music and the bagpipers and the chorus and some of the other pomp and circumstance of the typical ceremony, but this one has its merits too."
Amid a year of pandemic learning, applying for jobs and graduate school changed in the pandemic as well, with students like Palmer having interviews conducted over Zoom and experiencing changes to admissions requirements. Elementary education graduate Lizzie Swartz will be working and attending graduate school, and she said the application process this year was not much compared to applying for her undergraduate degree.
"I mean, honestly, when I was applying for grad schools, a lot of them have waived GRE requirements and things because of the pandemic, so that made it a little bit easier for me because it was just one less thing that I absolutely had to get done," Swartz said. "But other than that, I felt like the process was pretty similar to when I applied for undergrad."
Graduates and faculty also had mixed thoughts on competing for jobs and entering the workforce compared to previous classes.
"Well, I do think maybe employers are going to be looking at like, 'Oh, this is the class that didn't have the full experience and had to do everything online,'" said communications graduate Jacob Andrews. "I'm not an employer. I really don't know what they think, but I would assume that we're the year of, like, 'Did they get their education correct, or did they not?' There's going to be a lot of questions about this year, I feel like."
Olivia Wolf, assistant professor of art history, said this year is ending on a hopeful note for students.
"I will say that the students are very motivated to do what they can, and they've been very active looking for opportunities," Wolf said. "It is a hard year. I think everybody knows it's nothing personal in terms of looking for jobs. They just know it's hard for everybody."
Runyon echoed Wolf and said students are adapting well to the situation.
"The students are really flexible and resilient and adaptable, so they're figuring out ways to make it work for them. But I think this year the students seem much, much more hopeful, I would say," Runyon said.
Contact Anika Chaturvedi at achaturvedi@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6592.