Graduation returns to the real world
While the Covid pandemic is far from gone, we are learning to live with it, treat it, and sadly still die from it. But this past week, Columbia University, the university I’ve worked for more than 40 years, has returned with a grand graduation ceremony for the class of 2020, 2021 and 2022. I am affiliated with three schools in Columbia: International and Public Faculty Affairs, Faculty of Professional Studies, and Columbia Climate Institute. I have so many celebrations and events to attend that I can’t attend all of them because several are scheduled at the same time. It’s crazy, absolute joy. Students, staff and families seem to have an endless smile. We were all slightly relieved under the medieval hats, robes and headscarves. Rituals that once seemed almost routine suddenly became extraordinary.
From the closure of New York City in March 2020 to 2022, when our new mayor shifted its COVID strategy to focus on reopening the city in the face of COVID, many of us approached cautiously in public, often bordering on irrational delusions disease. Some caution remains. But over the past week, that seems to have all disappeared. At Commencement, NYU honored the likes of Taylor Swift, while Columbia University honors included Patty Smith, Yo-Yo Ma and Hillary Clinton. But the real action was cheering graduating family and friends in the thousands at school ceremonies and thousands in spectators at college ceremonies.
Graduation ceremonies such as weddings, bar mitzvahs, christenings, and similar events are all rites of passage. They signify an achievement or status and can often be a turning point in opening and exploring new worlds. American society has become so polarized and individualistic that these community gatherings seem to be increasingly important. They allow us to celebrate the hard work and achievements of our children and friends. They provide a collective experience that transcends ideology. You don’t graduate unless you finish your studies. A trophy that is not done without effort; you must complete assignments and meet specific requirements in order to graduate. Despite the pressure to improve grades and tolerate underperformance, most educators maintain standards, and where I work, those standards are high.
Some commencement speeches are controversial, some like Kennedy’s 1963 American University speech are historic, and some like Steve Jobs’s address The experience at Stanford University in 2005 was truly unforgettable. At Columbia University this year, University President Lee Bollinger issued an important warning about the impact of disinformation on free speech. He rightly points out the threat of factless propaganda to research universities and the need to counter lies with facts. It is always reassuring when our leaders respond to dangerous times with a call of principle.
While I wouldn’t say I ever took the pomp of graduation ceremonies for granted, I think the return to in-person ceremonies this year makes me very happy. As educators, we’ve adapted to virtual instruction through Zoom. Our students hang out there and keep learning. Graduation ceremonies are video productions. When we really want live theater, they are movies. No one really thinks that the two-dimensional rituals of 2020 and 2021 will come close to meeting the needs that the three-dimensional live rituals of 2022 will satisfy. Still, I really appreciate that communication technology allows us to stay connected when we can’t gather safely. I appreciate the hard work and hard work of so many people maintaining this technology and teaching us all how to use it. As we return to face-to-face life, we will learn from this period of personal isolation and technological connection. For example, guest speakers from different locations can “zoom in” into a class without the time and travel costs.
Last week at Columbia University, we delivered on our pandemic promise to bring back those who graduated online and hosted a commencement-like event to welcome alumni who held their graduation on Zoom. It’s a bittersweet moment for those graduates. They can’t help but think about what they missed. Still, while the Class of 2022 has been blessed with a “real” graduation, their path to a day in the sun is far from perfect. For the Class of 2022 and graduating students in the next few years, the impact of the pandemic on their studies will be forever. Online education is extremely valuable and offers a fantastic opportunity for those who cannot come to campus. However, it cannot offer extra-curricular learning in residence halls, lounges, bars and cafes. These informal exchanges remain a key element of university education. Education during the pandemic has shortened extracurriculars and is often solitary, even solitary. Research will eventually document this effect, and I’m guessing the effect will be more pronounced in the lower grades than in the upper grades. I’m sure it’s too early to assess long-term educational and psychological outcomes, but I know this is an experiment no one wants to conduct.
Some elements of the pandemic remain as we slowly recover from isolation. At Columbia University’s commencement, COVID and travel restrictions have kept many parents away, and many international students have been unable to return home for too long. Facetime and Zoom have helped, but our pre-COVID world was built on the convenience of international travel, and that world is still out of reach. International field trips and study abroad remain hampered by health restrictions, quarantines and fears of travel disruptions due to a positive COVID test.
As we come together in these ritualistic rituals, many of the crises of the modern world continue and temper our joy. Extreme weather from climate change, Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, COVID, rising crime and the horrific racist mass homicide in Buffalo were just a few of the disturbing headlines last week. Our joy in witnessing achievement is closely related to our perseverance in the face of these challenges.
Personally, I was very pleased to see more than 200 students graduate last week from two master’s programs I led at Columbia University: the Master of Environmental Science and Policy and the Master of Sustainability Management. Graduates of these programs work to protect the planet while ensuring equitable economic growth. When they first join our community, I watch our students graduate and flash back to when they arrived at orientation. Working together, they challenge their teachers and each other to learn technical skills, theoretical concepts and the context of our global environmental sustainability crisis. They then learn to apply these experiences to find solutions and become problem-solving sustainability experts in the process. This learning process has persisted through the pandemic and has continued through the crisis of the modern world.
The pomp and circumstance may come and go, but thousands of students graduated from school this spring. They will now apply the lessons they have learned in the world of work. The world of work will continue to change, so even as we certify graduates and award them the degrees they deserve, their learning process needs to continue throughout their working lives. Technological change has required auto mechanics to become computer and electrical engineers and web designers to learn new software. The punch cards I used to calculate quantitative analysis in graduate school were probably in some old tech museums. Changes will continue, but the re-emergence of hats, gowns, headscarves, paper diplomas, and smiling friends and family provides continuity and reassurance. I’m glad I saw this again last week.
