FREMONT – As a result of the newly imposed, state-directed health measures (DHMs), Midland University has announced the cancellation of the December 11, 2020, Commencement Ceremony.
In the announcement, Midland noted the new DHMs have reduced indoor building capacities’ from 50% to 25% making it difficult to host families, and the alarming rate of new cases in the area was enough to cancel the ceremony.
“Having to cancel winter commencement is disappointing on many fronts. I was looking forward to seeing you in person and shaking your hand as you walked across the stage; an experience you were denied last May. The new DHMs significantly reduce the number of people who can come together for gatherings and with COVID-19 cases rising rapidly in our state over the past few weeks, this decision became inevitable,” said President Jody Horner in her email to Midland students.
Midland is looking to create other options for graduating students to have a commencement ceremony.
“We don’t want to take any more risks than we need to in regards to gatherings and putting people inside in a small space. We are working through options for these December graduates to be able to walk in the spring,” said Merritt Nelson, Vice President of Enrollment, Management, and Marketing.
This isn’t the only change Midland is making to its protocol regarding COVID-19. Midland has also adjusted its calendar schedule and last week’s football game against Concordia was postponed until further notice.
“There are currently some emerging concerns with the data we’ve seen and the number of positive cases in the community. We have also seen a spike in cases on our campus, and so with that, we sat down and decided that we needed to make some changes,” said Nelson.
Originally, Midland’s Thanksgiving break would signal the end of in-person classes, and students would complete their finals online. They have since moved that date up and now students’ last day of in-person classes will be November 20. Classes on November 23 and 24 will be held virtually before students are off for Thanksgiving break.
Midland does still plan at this point to welcome students back to campus for the 2nd semester in January.
Nelson also noted that Midland wants to be as transparent as possible with the community.
“As we continue to communicate as a community, it is really cool to see. That’s the value of Fremont. We’re all coming together and we all want to make the right decisions. We’re happy to keep the community informed, I know Midland is such a big part of the community. We don’t want people wondering what’s going on at campus, so we want to be transparent with our numbers and all other things happening,” said Nelson.
As of Friday, November 13th, Midland University was reporting 33 positive COVID-19 cases. The previous week, Midland was reporting 13 positive cases.
Midland’s message to the community about current COVID-19 cases on Friday –
“As the number of cases continues to rise in the Fremont community, we must continue to be diligent in our efforts to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 on campus. We are taking the necessary steps to keep our students, faculty, and staff during this time. Midland University will be holding classes online Monday, November 23rd, and Tuesday, November 24th prior to the Thanksgiving break. We ask that everyone continues to make good decisions when it comes to wearing a mask, social distancing, and practicing good hygiene.
