University of Minnesota 'working now to develop' options to allow graduates to walk stage

University of Minnesota officials are now developing opportunities to allow for all graduates to walk the stage to receive their diplomas after renovations potentially jeopardized the rite of passage.

An online petition started by Olivia Szatkowski has garnered more than 6,000 signatures with students urging university officials to allow for seniors to walk across the stage to receive their diplomas.

3M Arena at Mariucci, where most graduations are usually held, is closed for "extensive renovations," according to an email from David Greenstein, interim dean at the College of Biological Sciences.

Initially, students would have celebrated with a "number of other UMN colleges" at Huntington Bank Stadium, according to Greenstein's email. An email sent to the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resources students said the joint ceremony would not have allowed students to walk across the stage and receive diplomas, according to Szatkowski.

In messages to students, university officials "promise details in the coming days," university spokesman Jake Ricker said Thursday evening.

"[D]epartments and colleges across the Twin Cities campus are working now to develop a full set of opportunities that include the aspects of commencement that are so important to our graduates and their families, like hearing graduates' names read and capturing photos," Ricker said in an email. "We are committed to developing plans that will allow our spring 2023 graduates to be individually recognized and will share more information with them when it is available."

Szatkowski, a senior in the College of Biology Sciences, started the online petition in hopes that university administrators would find a way to allow students and their families to hear their names as they walk on stage as part of their graduation ceremony.

Szatkowski said she's heartened by the "crazy amount of supportive comments. I've received a lot of support from classmates and other students graduating in 2023, and alums who want our class to receive the same opportunity that they received."

Szatkowski, who grew up in nearby River Falls, Wis., said she's feeling empathy for other seniors whose families want to "fly out from different countries and different states, and they are upset and concerned that they may not get to see their students walk across the stage."

Szatkowski said she has not heard from any university administrators, and "I don't really expect them to reach out to me specifically. I just hope they will consider all the opinions and see all the [petition signers'] comments."