Some Montclair State Professors Worried About Grad Events, COVID – Montclair, NJ Patch

MONTCLAIR, NJ — When Montclair State University kicks off a series of in-person graduation ceremonies later this week, more than 120 of their faculty members won’t be in attendance due to concerns about the coronavirus.

Recently, a cohort of MSU faculty announced that they’re turning down an invitation to attend this year’s ceremonies, which take place between July 18 and 23 at Sprague Field.

MSU administrators have maintained that the events will follow state guidelines on COVID-19 and utilize “extensive safety protocols.” But according to a joint statement from the wary faculty members, they’re fearful the graduation ceremonies will put students – and their teachers – at risk of catching the virus.

Although state and federal guidelines may allow the university to hold in-person graduation ceremonies, it’s still “unwise,” charged Fawzia Afzal-Khan, an English professor at MSU.

“We don’t have enough information — and what we do have keeps changing frequently — about how COVID-19 is transmitted,” Afzal-Khan insisted.

Joan Ficke, another MSU professor opposed to the upcoming ceremonies, is fearful that some attendees may arrive on campus having been in “dicey situations” and haven’t been wearing masks or social distancing.

“What’s the objective here?” Ficke questioned. “And how do we protect the people who are going to participate in this?”

The 120 faculty members sent a letter to MSU administrators about their concerns on July 7. It read:

“As educators who have invested deeply in the success of our graduating students, we wish nothing more than to honor their achievements and to celebrate with them and their families; yet we cannot in good conscience participate in in-person commencement exercises at this time. We recognize that the university intends to follow state health and safety guidelines. Just because a choice is legal, however, does not make it wise. We cannot support an event that brings together hundreds of people and prompts travel by family members across the state and country, at a time when infections are rising to record highs each day. In addition, we cannot support an event that obliges our professional and support staff colleagues to put at risk their health and the health of their families, for fear of risking their job. It is therefore with regret, but considered resolve, that we decline the invitation to attend. We the undersigned faculty urge you to reconsider pursuing commencement at this time.”

MSU: ‘CLEARLY SOMETHING THEY WANTED’

A spokesperson for the university told Patch that if the professors are worried about getting infected at the ceremonies, they don’t need to come.

“Faculty are invited to attend commencement each year, but they are never required to attend,” he said. “All of the employees who will be part of the ceremonies are volunteers and will be there because they want to be. The university would never force an employee to do something they felt was dangerous.”

“We appreciate their willingness to help make these events a wonderful experience for our graduates and their guests,” he added.

According to the MSU spokesperson, the events are largely driven by student demand.

“Commencement is a very important and meaningful moment for our students, many of whom are the first in their families to graduate from college,” he said. “From the beginning, our students communicated to us they did not want a virtual commencement. More than 2,000 students have registered to attend … so this is clearly something they wanted. We are thrilled to be able to offer them the opportunity to celebrate their achievements with their loved ones in as safe a manner as possible.”

Here’s how it will work, according to a previous statement from MSU:

“To ensure safe social distancing, the university will hold 23 individual ceremonies for groups of about 200 graduates. Each ceremony will take about an hour and will be held at 9 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. each day during the week. The events will feature the ‘pomp and circumstance’ of a traditional commencement. Students will have their names read and will walk across the stage to mark the moment when they enter the ranks of Montclair State’s more than 130,000 alumni.”

Some additional safety measures follow below (see the full list here):

• Graduates must report 60 minutes prior to their ceremony start time. Commencement staff will direct students to graduate check-in and line-up area.
• Guests and/or children will not be permitted in the student line-up or seating areas
• Graduates must wear face coverings and keep 6 feet of distance from others throughout the event
• To ensure the safety of all attendees, please follow signs, arrows, and verbal instructions from the event staff
• Concessions will not be available. Graduates must bring their own water bottle.
• Any graduates who do not feel well on the day of the ceremony are asked to stay home
• Any graduates not feeling well will not be permitted to enter

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