Columbia University will be hosting one ceremony for the 2021 graduating class despite reports that it’d be hosting a variety of different ones separating students by race, gender, and ethnicity.
Reports on Tuesday claimed the university was doing away with the standard graduation ceremony in lieu of six separate ones that would be dedicated to Native American, Asian, “Latinx,” black, first-generation and low-income, and “LGBTIAQ+” students. But a university spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that those events, which are only open to certain schools within the university, are being held in addition to a traditional, campuswide graduation, which is set for April 30.
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The Columbia University spokesperson said the reports that it is holding separate graduating events for students “based on race or ethnicity are incorrect.”
“Columbia marks graduation every spring with a university-wide Commencement ceremony and Class Days for the graduates of each of our schools. These events bringing together all of our graduates and their families are a high point of every academic year,” the spokesperson said. “The smaller celebratory events held for particular groups are in addition to, not instead of, the main Commencement and Class Day graduation ceremonies.”
“In most instances, these smaller, multicultural gatherings evolved from ceremonies originally created by alumni and students. The gatherings are voluntary, open to every student who wants to participate, and have become a highly anticipated and meaningful part of the Columbia graduation experience,” the representative added.
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The page promoting the “Multicultural Graduation Celebrations” says the events “provide a more intimate setting for students who self-identify in a variety of ways” and that they “invite community members to reflect on personal growth and community experiences that have impacted their time as students through to graduation.”
The page was updated on Tuesday, amid the circulating reports, and it no longer mentions any of the six specific virtual ceremonies for each demographic, according to Wayback Machine.
