December 15, 2020
For those of you who recently completed or are nearing completion of your academic requirements, we know the topic of graduation will be top of mind over the winter break. We also understand that many of you are eager to make plans. We promise you we are giving the matter considerable attention as well.
The School’s administration is exploring every possible scenario—in-person, blended, and virtual—to celebrate our graduates this year, but the pandemic is making planning very challenging. Keen as we all are on doing a full in-person graduation (our top choice by far), the recent enormous surge in cases gives one pause; and despite the good news about vaccines, it remains far from clear that the vaccines will reach a sufficient portion of the population to enable large-scale in-person gatherings by early summer. Given the constantly changing environment, it’s extremely difficult to “lock in” on a traditional graduation with all of the usual pomp and circumstance—and thousands of attendees—that all of us look forward to so keenly each year.
We’re doing our very best, so we’re asking you to stay tuned. We will inform the Stern community as soon as we know more. For the moment, however, we ask for your patience as our team, in partnership with students and the University, considers all of the options and awaits further guidance from State and City officials.
Warm regards,
Raghu Sundaram
