{"id":91614,"date":"2021-05-07T15:47:54","date_gmt":"2021-05-07T19:47:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/?p=91614"},"modified":"2021-05-07T15:47:54","modified_gmt":"2021-05-07T19:47:54","slug":"pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/","title":{"rendered":"Pandemic Delayed, Couldn\u2019t Stop, UMW 2020 Commencement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hannah Manning \u201920, M.Ed. \u201921, woke up with a nervous excitement.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_91612\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-91612\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"91612\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/2020umw173\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw173-scaled.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2560,1707\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;5.6&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;ILCE-7M3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1620328068&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;159&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;640&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.000625&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;After COVID-19 delayed their Commencement for a year, members of the Class of 2020 finally   get to turn their tassels. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw173-300x200.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw173-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-91612 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw173-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"After COVID-19 delayed their Commencement for a year, members of the Class of 2020 finally got to turn their tassels during three socially distanced ceremonies held Thursday and Friday, May 6 and 7. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw173-300x200.jpg 300w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw173-1024x683.jpg 1024w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw173-768x512.jpg 768w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw173-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw173-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw173-680x453.jpg 680w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw173-1140x760.jpg 1140w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw173-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-91612\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">After COVID-19 delayed their Commencement for a year, members of the Class of 2020 finally got to turn their tassels during three socially distanced ceremonies held Thursday and Friday, May 6 and 7. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cLike I was getting ready to give a speech,\u201d she said, posing for photos yesterday morning with fellow University of Mary Washington College of Education (COE) students Savannah Rowland and Alexandra Cooper. \u201cIt feels good to finally be doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In less than two hours, the trio \u2013 who donned caps and gowns, and held signs of gratitude for COE Professor Jennifer Walker \u2013 would cross the Commencement stage to have their bachelor\u2019s degrees officially conferred. It was a moment they\u2019d anticipated for more than a year.<\/p>\n<p>Manning, Rowland and Cooper \u2013 each of whom has since earned a master\u2019s of education degree \u2013 joined more than 300 members of UMW\u2019s Class of 2020 returning to campus for graduation ceremonies rescheduled twice due to COVID-19. The ongoing pandemic caused the celebration to be split into three socially distanced, meticulously orchestrated sets of festivities over the course of two days. But the moment they\u2019d waited for \u2013 the capstone event of their college careers \u2013 was finally here.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWelcome back, 2020!\u201d President Troy Paino told graduates. \u201cWe are so happy to see you here. We missed you.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"tiled-gallery type-rectangular tiled-gallery-unresized\" data-original-width=\"1100\" data-carousel-extra='{&quot;blog_id&quot;:7,&quot;permalink&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/news\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/07\\\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\\\/&quot;,&quot;likes_blog_id&quot;:230672515}' itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageGallery\" > <div class=\"gallery-row\" style=\"width: 1100px; height: 777px;\" data-original-width=\"1100\" data-original-height=\"777\" > <div class=\"gallery-group images-1\" style=\"width: 519px; height: 777px;\" data-original-width=\"519\" data-original-height=\"777\" > <div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2020umw065\/\" border=\"0\" itemprop=\"url\"> <meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"515\"> <meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"773\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" data-attachment-id=\"91604\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw065-scaled.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1707,2560\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;3.5&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;ILCE-7M3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1620315595&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;159&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;640&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.00015625&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw065-200x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw065-683x1024.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw065-scaled.jpg?w=515&#038;h=773&#038;ssl=1\" srcset=\"\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw065-scaled.jpg 1707w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw065-200x300.jpg 200w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw065-683x1024.jpg 683w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw065-768x1152.jpg 768w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw065-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw065-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw065-760x1140.jpg 760w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw065-400x600.jpg 400w\" width=\"515\" height=\"773\" loading=\"lazy\" data-original-width=\"515\" data-original-height=\"773\" itemprop=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/image\" title=\"\" alt=\"Colorful cords and masks were on full display at UMW&#039;s Class of 2020 Commencement ceremonies. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.\" style=\"width: 515px; height: 773px;\" \/> <\/a> <div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\" itemprop=\"caption description\"> Colorful cords and masks were on full display at UMW&#8217;s Class of 2020 Commencement ceremonies. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <!-- close group --> <div class=\"gallery-group images-2\" style=\"width: 581px; height: 777px;\" data-original-width=\"581\" data-original-height=\"777\" > <div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/sharon-johnson-theodore-mba-grad-2020-walks-into-the-ceremony\/\" border=\"0\" itemprop=\"url\"> <meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"577\"> <meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"385\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" data-attachment-id=\"91607\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw121-scaled.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2560,1707\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;7.1&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;ILCE-7M3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Sharon Johnson Theodore (MBA grad 2020) walks into the ceremony,&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1620325957&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;25&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;640&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.001&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Sharon Johnson Theodore (MBA grad 2020) walks into the ceremony,&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw121-300x200.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw121-1024x683.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw121-scaled.jpg?w=577&#038;h=385&#038;ssl=1\" srcset=\"\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw121-scaled.jpg 2560w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw121-300x200.jpg 300w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw121-1024x683.jpg 1024w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw121-768x512.jpg 768w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw121-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw121-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw121-680x453.jpg 680w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw121-1140x760.jpg 1140w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw121-600x400.jpg 600w\" width=\"577\" height=\"385\" loading=\"lazy\" data-original-width=\"577\" data-original-height=\"385\" itemprop=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/image\" title=\"\" alt=\"Sharon Johnson Theodore, MBA &#039;20, leads processes from Sunken Road, where graduates lined up, onto the Campus Recreation Field, where this year&#039;s Commencement ceremonies were held. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.\" style=\"width: 577px; height: 385px;\" \/> <\/a> <div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\" itemprop=\"caption description\"> Sharon Johnson Theodore, MBA &#8217;20, processes from Sunken Road, where graduates lined up, onto the Campus Recreation Field, where this year&#8217;s Commencement ceremonies were held. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi. <\/div> <\/div> <div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2020umw021\/\" border=\"0\" itemprop=\"url\"> <meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"577\"> <meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"384\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" data-attachment-id=\"91601\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw021-scaled.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2560,1707\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;6.3&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;ILCE-7M3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1620313749&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;25&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;640&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0005&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw021-300x200.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw021-1024x683.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw021-scaled.jpg?w=577&#038;h=384&#038;ssl=1\" srcset=\"\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw021-scaled.jpg 2560w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw021-300x200.jpg 300w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw021-1024x683.jpg 1024w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw021-768x512.jpg 768w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw021-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw021-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw021-680x453.jpg 680w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw021-1140x760.jpg 1140w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw021-600x400.jpg 600w\" width=\"577\" height=\"384\" loading=\"lazy\" data-original-width=\"577\" data-original-height=\"384\" itemprop=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/image\" title=\"\" alt=\"This year&#039;s Commencement ceremonies were moved from Ball Circle to the 11,000-square foot Campus Recreation Field to allow for social distancing. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.\" style=\"width: 577px; height: 384px;\" \/> <\/a> <div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\" itemprop=\"caption description\"> This year&#8217;s Commencement ceremonies were moved from Ball Circle to the 11,000-square foot Campus Recreation Field to allow for social distancing. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <!-- close group --> <\/div> <!-- close row --> <\/div>\n<p>Moved from its traditional site on Ball Circle to accommodate pandemic guidelines, this year\u2019s Commencement was held on the 11,000-square foot Campus Recreation Field adjacent to U.S. 1. Nine ceremonies \u2013 three Thursday and Friday, May 6 and 7, for the Class of 2020, and six Saturday and Sunday, May 8 and 9, for the Class of 2021 \u2013 were planned.<\/p>\n<p>Paino shared the stage with Provost Nina Mikhalevsky; Alumni Association member Donna Sheehan Gladis \u201968; student, faculty and Board of Visitors representatives; and Department of Theatre Director of Marketing and Audience Services Jon Reynolds, the official reader of names. Throughout the course of the three Class of 2020 ceremonies, recent graduates Lillian Lester \u201920 and Eleanor Kilmon \u201920 joined the platform party, as did BOV members Ted Hontz, Pat McGinnis and Marty Abbott. Faculty representatives included Department of Theatre Chair Gregg Stull, Professor of Education and Mathematics Marie Sheckels, and Professor of Spanish Ana Chichester, who also serves as director of the bachelor of liberal studies program.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tiled-gallery type-rectangular tiled-gallery-unresized\" data-original-width=\"1100\" data-carousel-extra='{&quot;blog_id&quot;:7,&quot;permalink&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/news\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/07\\\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\\\/&quot;,&quot;likes_blog_id&quot;:230672515}' itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageGallery\" > <div class=\"gallery-row\" style=\"width: 1100px; height: 491px;\" data-original-width=\"1100\" data-original-height=\"491\" > <div class=\"gallery-group images-1\" style=\"width: 734px; height: 491px;\" data-original-width=\"734\" data-original-height=\"491\" > <div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2020umw150\/\" border=\"0\" itemprop=\"url\"> <meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"730\"> <meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"487\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" data-attachment-id=\"91611\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw150-scaled.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2560,1707\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;4.5&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;ILCE-7M3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1620326753&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;128&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;640&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0015625&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw150-300x200.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw150-1024x683.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw150-scaled.jpg?w=730&#038;h=487&#038;ssl=1\" srcset=\"\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw150-scaled.jpg 2560w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw150-300x200.jpg 300w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw150-1024x683.jpg 1024w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw150-768x512.jpg 768w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw150-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw150-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw150-680x453.jpg 680w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw150-1140x760.jpg 1140w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw150-600x400.jpg 600w\" width=\"730\" height=\"487\" loading=\"lazy\" data-original-width=\"730\" data-original-height=\"487\" itemprop=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/image\" title=\"\" alt=\"Lillian Lester &#039;20, who served as treasurer of her senior class, spoke to her classmates during the first of nine Commencement ceremonies for the Classes of 2020 and 2021. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.\" style=\"width: 730px; height: 487px;\" \/> <\/a> <div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\" itemprop=\"caption description\"> Lillian Lester &#8217;20, who served as treasurer of her senior class, spoke to her classmates during the first of nine Commencement ceremonies for the Classes of 2020 and 2021. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <!-- close group --> <div class=\"gallery-group images-2\" style=\"width: 366px; height: 491px;\" data-original-width=\"366\" data-original-height=\"491\" > <div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2020umw139\/\" border=\"0\" itemprop=\"url\"> <meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"362\"> <meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"242\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" data-attachment-id=\"91610\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw139-scaled.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2560,1707\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;ILCE-7M3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1620326482&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;189&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;640&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.00125&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw139-300x200.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw139-1024x683.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw139-scaled.jpg?w=362&#038;h=242&#038;ssl=1\" srcset=\"\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw139-scaled.jpg 2560w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw139-300x200.jpg 300w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw139-1024x683.jpg 1024w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw139-768x512.jpg 768w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw139-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw139-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw139-680x453.jpg 680w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw139-1140x760.jpg 1140w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw139-600x400.jpg 600w\" width=\"362\" height=\"242\" loading=\"lazy\" data-original-width=\"362\" data-original-height=\"242\" itemprop=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/image\" title=\"\" alt=\"UMW President Troy Paino told 2020 grads: &quot;Today\u2019s Commencement is a true celebration of the reward of overcoming extraordinary challenges.&quot; Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.\" style=\"width: 362px; height: 242px;\" \/> <\/a> <div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\" itemprop=\"caption description\"> UMW President Troy Paino told 2020 grads: &#8220;Today\u2019s Commencement is a true celebration of the reward of overcoming extraordinary challenges.&#8221; Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi. <\/div> <\/div> <div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2020umw135\/\" border=\"0\" itemprop=\"url\"> <meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"362\"> <meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"241\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" data-attachment-id=\"91609\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw135-scaled.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2560,1707\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;ILCE-7M3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1620326416&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;182&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;640&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.001&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw135-300x200.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw135-1024x683.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw135-scaled.jpg?w=362&#038;h=241&#038;ssl=1\" srcset=\"\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw135-scaled.jpg 2560w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw135-300x200.jpg 300w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw135-1024x683.jpg 1024w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw135-768x512.jpg 768w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw135-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw135-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw135-680x453.jpg 680w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw135-1140x760.jpg 1140w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw135-600x400.jpg 600w\" width=\"362\" height=\"241\" loading=\"lazy\" data-original-width=\"362\" data-original-height=\"241\" itemprop=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/image\" title=\"\" alt=\"Provost Nina Mikhalevsky takes the podium during one of three Commencement ceremonies for the Class of 2020. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.\" style=\"width: 362px; height: 241px;\" \/> <\/a> <div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\" itemprop=\"caption description\"> Provost Nina Mikhalevsky takes the podium during one of three Commencement ceremonies for the Class of 2020. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <!-- close group --> <\/div> <!-- close row --> <\/div>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019ve had a rare chance to reflect on your Mary Washington experience for a year, before coming back with your classmates, friends and family, to memorialize what you have gone through and accomplished together,\u201d Paino said. \u201cTime gives you the gift of perspective, and allows you to more fully appreciate the meaning of this occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lester announced the winner of the Class of 2020 Mary W. Pinschmidt Award, established in 1999 through private donations and presented to the faculty member the graduating class \u201cwill most likely remember as the one who had the greatest impact on their lives.\u201d College of Education Professor Melissa Wells, received the honor for her work as a leader in the movement to provide college students access to affordable course materials.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s exciting,\u201d said psychology major Sam Taylor \u201920, who drove up from Richmond with his friend, economics major Thomas Meldrum \u201920. \u201cWe get to celebrate all the hard work and all the great faculty that taught us so much.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"tiled-gallery type-rectangular tiled-gallery-unresized\" data-original-width=\"1100\" data-carousel-extra='{&quot;blog_id&quot;:7,&quot;permalink&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/news\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/07\\\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\\\/&quot;,&quot;likes_blog_id&quot;:230672515}' itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageGallery\" > <div class=\"gallery-row\" style=\"width: 1100px; height: 490px;\" data-original-width=\"1100\" data-original-height=\"490\" > <div class=\"gallery-group images-1\" style=\"width: 733px; height: 490px;\" data-original-width=\"733\" data-original-height=\"490\" > <div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2020umw107\/\" border=\"0\" itemprop=\"url\"> <meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"729\"> <meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"486\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" data-attachment-id=\"91606\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw107-scaled.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2560,1707\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;5&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;ILCE-7M3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1620323155&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;198&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;640&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.008&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw107-300x200.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw107-1024x683.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw107-scaled.jpg?w=729&#038;h=486&#038;ssl=1\" srcset=\"\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw107-scaled.jpg 2560w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw107-300x200.jpg 300w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw107-1024x683.jpg 1024w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw107-768x512.jpg 768w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw107-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw107-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw107-680x453.jpg 680w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw107-1140x760.jpg 1140w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw107-600x400.jpg 600w\" width=\"729\" height=\"486\" loading=\"lazy\" data-original-width=\"729\" data-original-height=\"486\" itemprop=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/image\" title=\"\" alt=\"True to tradition, Dean of Students Cedric Rucker adjusts graduates&#039; regalia during one of three Commencement ceremonies for the Class of 2020. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.\" style=\"width: 729px; height: 486px;\" \/> <\/a> <div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\" itemprop=\"caption description\"> True to tradition, Dean of Students Cedric Rucker adjusts graduates&#8217; regalia during one of three Commencement ceremonies for the Class of 2020. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <!-- close group --> <div class=\"gallery-group images-2\" style=\"width: 367px; height: 490px;\" data-original-width=\"367\" data-original-height=\"490\" > <div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2020umw091\/\" border=\"0\" itemprop=\"url\"> <meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"363\"> <meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"240\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" data-attachment-id=\"91605\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw091-scaled.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2560,1686\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;4.5&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;ILCE-7M3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Monique Jones (right) gives her daughter, Reina Irby, a hug after the 2020 graduation ceremony.&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1620318467&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;81&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;640&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.001&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw091-300x198.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw091-1024x674.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw091-scaled.jpg?w=363&#038;h=240&#038;ssl=1\" srcset=\"\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw091-scaled.jpg 2560w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw091-300x198.jpg 300w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw091-1024x674.jpg 1024w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw091-768x506.jpg 768w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw091-1536x1011.jpg 1536w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw091-2048x1349.jpg 2048w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw091-1140x751.jpg 1140w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw091-600x395.jpg 600w\" width=\"363\" height=\"240\" loading=\"lazy\" data-original-width=\"363\" data-original-height=\"240\" itemprop=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/image\" title=\"\" alt=\"Monique Jones (right) gives her daughter, Reina Irby, a hug after one of three 2020 graduation ceremonies. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.\" style=\"width: 363px; height: 240px;\" \/> <\/a> <div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\" itemprop=\"caption description\"> Monique Jones (right) gives her daughter, Reina Irby, a hug after one of three 2020 graduation ceremonies. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi. <\/div> <\/div> <div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2020umw038\/\" border=\"0\" itemprop=\"url\"> <meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"363\"> <meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"242\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" data-attachment-id=\"91602\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw038-scaled.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2560,1707\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;4.5&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;ILCE-7M3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1620314722&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;117&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;640&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0015625&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw038-300x200.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw038-1024x683.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw038-scaled.jpg?w=363&#038;h=242&#038;ssl=1\" srcset=\"\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw038-scaled.jpg 2560w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw038-300x200.jpg 300w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw038-1024x683.jpg 1024w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw038-768x512.jpg 768w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw038-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw038-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw038-680x453.jpg 680w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw038-1140x760.jpg 1140w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw038-600x400.jpg 600w\" width=\"363\" height=\"242\" loading=\"lazy\" data-original-width=\"363\" data-original-height=\"242\" itemprop=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/image\" title=\"\" alt=\"UMW President Troy Paino elbow bumps Gabi Radoiu &#039;20 as she crosses the stage. Handshakes were out this year due to the pandemic. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.\" style=\"width: 363px; height: 242px;\" \/> <\/a> <div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\" itemprop=\"caption description\"> UMW President Troy Paino elbow bumps Gabi Radoiu &#8217;20 as she crosses the stage. Handshakes were out this year due to the pandemic. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <!-- close group --> <\/div> <!-- close row --> <\/div>\n<p>The playing of the National Anthem and Mary Washington\u2019s <em>Alma Mater\u00a0<\/em>added to the pomp and circumstance, as did a single bagpipe player during each of the ceremonies. The mix of sentiments that swirled in the air was heightened when Paino broke from his script:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve got to tell you, this is one of the most emotional commencement ceremonies I\u2019ve attended, and that\u2019s including ones that have involved family members like my daughters,\u201d he said. \u201cI think of everything that you\u2019ve been through, and your family, but I also think of the people [at Mary Washington], who have invested so much in your life.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_91603\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-91603\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"91603\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/ibrar-tariq\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw044-scaled.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2560,1707\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;5&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;ILCE-7M3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Ibrar Tariq&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1620314862&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;140&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;640&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0005&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Ibrar Tariq&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Colorful cords and decorated caps were on full display at UMW&amp;#8217;s Class of 2020 Commencement ceremonies. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw044-300x200.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw044-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-91603 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw044-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Colorful cords and decorated caps were on full display at UMW's Class of 2020 Commencement ceremonies. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw044-300x200.jpg 300w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw044-1024x683.jpg 1024w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw044-768x512.jpg 768w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw044-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw044-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw044-680x453.jpg 680w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw044-1140x760.jpg 1140w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/2020umw044-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-91603\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Decorated caps said it all at UMW&#8217;s Class of 2020 Commencement ceremonies. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Lester echoed his thoughts on the unique set of circumstances that have colored the past year, since the Class of 2020 \u2013 more than 1,300 strong, including three Darden Award winners who earned perfect 4.0 GPAs \u2013 was suddenly switched to remote learning last spring due to COVID.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am so proud of our class and our generation for the way we have shown up in the worst year that many of us have experienced. You all have displayed resilience beyond measure,\u201d she said. \u201cUMW is really lucky to have a class like us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hannah Manning \u201920, M.Ed. \u201921, woke up with a nervous excitement. \u201cLike I was getting ready to give a speech,\u201d she said, posing for photos yesterday morning with fellow University of Mary Washington College of Education (COE) students Savannah Rowland and Alexandra Cooper. \u201cIt feels good to finally be doing this.\u201d In less than two [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":91616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"umw_cb_additional_links":[[]],"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_advisory_expires_time":"","_advisory_meta_include":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[704],"tags":[14945,708],"topics":[5144],"class_list":{"0":"post-91614","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-stories","8":"tag-class-of-2020","9":"tag-commencement","10":"topic-news","11":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.9 (Yoast SEO v26.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Pandemic Delayed, Couldn\u2019t Stop, UMW 2020 Commencement - News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pandemic Delayed, Couldn\u2019t Stop, UMW 2020 Commencement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hannah Manning \u201920, M.Ed. \u201921, woke up with a nervous excitement. \u201cLike I was getting ready to give a speech,\u201d she said, posing for photos yesterday morning with fellow University of Mary Washington College of Education (COE) students Savannah Rowland and Alexandra Cooper. \u201cIt feels good to finally be doing this.\u201d In less than two [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UniversityofMaryWashington\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-07T19:47:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/NewRelease_Commencement_2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1140\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"460\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lisa Chinn Marvashti\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@UMaryWash\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@UMaryWash\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lisa Chinn Marvashti\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lisa Chinn Marvashti\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/eab3b9dd084c2488474792f0c391b8e7\"},\"headline\":\"Pandemic Delayed, Couldn\u2019t Stop, UMW 2020 Commencement\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-07T19:47:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/\"},\"wordCount\":794,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/NewRelease_Commencement_2.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Class of 2020\",\"Commencement\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Top Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/\",\"name\":\"Pandemic Delayed, Couldn\u2019t Stop, UMW 2020 Commencement - News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/NewRelease_Commencement_2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-07T19:47:54+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/NewRelease_Commencement_2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/NewRelease_Commencement_2.jpg\",\"width\":1140,\"height\":460},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pandemic Delayed, Couldn\u2019t Stop, UMW 2020 Commencement\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/\",\"name\":\"News\",\"description\":\"University of Mary Washington\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"University of Mary Washington\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/10\/2colorUMWprimarywordmark.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/10\/2colorUMWprimarywordmark.png\",\"width\":2255,\"height\":580,\"caption\":\"University of Mary Washington\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UniversityofMaryWashington\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/UMaryWash\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/eab3b9dd084c2488474792f0c391b8e7\",\"name\":\"Lisa Chinn Marvashti\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cd48e50ced07a667a7ccc2683e7c499bbc79a10e20d4fab04d100cc5ccae276?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cd48e50ced07a667a7ccc2683e7c499bbc79a10e20d4fab04d100cc5ccae276?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lisa Chinn Marvashti\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pandemic Delayed, Couldn\u2019t Stop, UMW 2020 Commencement - News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pandemic Delayed, Couldn\u2019t Stop, UMW 2020 Commencement","og_description":"Hannah Manning \u201920, M.Ed. \u201921, woke up with a nervous excitement. \u201cLike I was getting ready to give a speech,\u201d she said, posing for photos yesterday morning with fellow University of Mary Washington College of Education (COE) students Savannah Rowland and Alexandra Cooper. \u201cIt feels good to finally be doing this.\u201d In less than two [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/","og_site_name":"News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UniversityofMaryWashington\/","article_published_time":"2021-05-07T19:47:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1140,"height":460,"url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/NewRelease_Commencement_2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lisa Chinn Marvashti","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@UMaryWash","twitter_site":"@UMaryWash","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lisa Chinn Marvashti","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/"},"author":{"name":"Lisa Chinn Marvashti","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/eab3b9dd084c2488474792f0c391b8e7"},"headline":"Pandemic Delayed, Couldn\u2019t Stop, UMW 2020 Commencement","datePublished":"2021-05-07T19:47:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/"},"wordCount":794,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/NewRelease_Commencement_2.jpg","keywords":["Class of 2020","Commencement"],"articleSection":["Top Stories"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/","name":"Pandemic Delayed, Couldn\u2019t Stop, UMW 2020 Commencement - News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/NewRelease_Commencement_2.jpg","datePublished":"2021-05-07T19:47:54+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/NewRelease_Commencement_2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/NewRelease_Commencement_2.jpg","width":1140,"height":460},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/07\/pandemic-delayed-couldnt-stop-umw-2020-commencement\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pandemic Delayed, Couldn\u2019t Stop, UMW 2020 Commencement"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/","name":"News","description":"University of Mary Washington","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#organization","name":"University of Mary Washington","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/10\/2colorUMWprimarywordmark.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/10\/2colorUMWprimarywordmark.png","width":2255,"height":580,"caption":"University of Mary Washington"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UniversityofMaryWashington\/","https:\/\/x.com\/UMaryWash"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/eab3b9dd084c2488474792f0c391b8e7","name":"Lisa Chinn Marvashti","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cd48e50ced07a667a7ccc2683e7c499bbc79a10e20d4fab04d100cc5ccae276?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cd48e50ced07a667a7ccc2683e7c499bbc79a10e20d4fab04d100cc5ccae276?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lisa Chinn Marvashti"}}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/05\/NewRelease_Commencement_2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-11 11:28:06","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91614"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics?post=91614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}