Outdoor location means a return to in-person YSU commencement

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State University is planning in-person commencement ceremonies this spring and a return to "near normal" operations in the fall.

President Jim Tressel said in a news release that with updated COVID-19 guidelines announced last week by Gov. Mike DeWine, YSU is planning to conduct in-person spring commencement on May 8 at Stambaugh Stadium with May 9 as a rain date.

"Safety is our top priority," he said. "Protocols such as face coverings and social distancing will remain in place. We are looking forward to gathering together to recognize the tremendous work of our graduates. More details to come."

In an email to students and employees Thursday (March 4), Tressel said as treatments improve, protocols are more closely followed and vaccine distribution expands, YSU is hopeful that by August and the start of the 2021 fall semester that the university will be at a new stage of the COVID-19 pandemic response.

Changes in the fall include more face-to-face classes, more students in residence halls and more activities and campus events.

More details on the fall semester will be announced throughout the spring and summer. For the latest updates, visit the YSU coronavirus information page.

Tressel emphasized that plans for the fall semester and for commencement remain tentative.

"It's important to understand that, while we are planning and preparing for a return to near normal operations, we also know that those plans can be altered at any time," he said in the email.

"You've all faced great, unprecedented challenges; your perseverance through it all has been remarkable," Tressel said in his email to campus. "And now it finally feels like there may be reason for optimism. If the availability of vaccines continues to expand, and if the disease does not take any more crazy turns, the opportunity to approach a more normal way of 'doing college' could be in our grasp again here at YSU."

This story was originally published March 5, 2021 at 4:26 AM with the headline "Outdoor location means a return to in-person YSU commencement."