TCU hosted a historic commencement this month, which gained the attention of several media outlets. The event was not only in-person, but also featured multiple ceremonies to honor both 2020 and 2021 graduates.
“It [senior year] felt like it really just ended without a final chapter. So getting to have this final chapter is really nice,” 2020 graduate Alexis Hodge told KTVT.
Brandon Chicotsky, assistant professor of professional practice in TCU Neeley, expressed his pride in how everyone at TCU handled the unusual circumstances.
“We never shut down, we kept going,” he said. “We kept our classes live in person or hybrid. What this means is that [our] students now are more agile.”
Fox 4 noted that while some other universities were holding drive-thru and other events, TCU held its ceremonies in person, adding some normalcy to an unusual year.
“While one student begins training for a job as an investment banking analyst at Bank of America virtually due to COVID-19 restrictions, another is working remotely for eBay as a software engineer and has already launched a beta eBay program at TCU,” the story reads.
As stated in Fort Worth Magazine, 2021 graduates wore the TCU Unity Cord, a red and purple cord that symbolized the graduates’ humanity and the students’ contribution to TCU’s legacy. The effort was a collaboration between the Student Government Association, the Graduate Student Senate and the Race & Reconciliation Initiative.