March 20, 2020

Dear Mean Green family,

We are living through an unprecedented global event the likes of which we have rarely seen in the 130-year history of our university. The personal impact on each of us and our normal routine on and off campus is great, which is why I am writing to share news about Commencement with you today.

After much consideration, I have decided to postpone Commencement ceremonies that were scheduled for May 7-10. Our spring commencement is the last major event to be impacted, and the decision was not made quickly in order to thoroughly consider whether we could begin returning to normal operations in early May. While we should all remain optimistic about where we could be with the fight against coronavirus (COVID-19) in 45 days, families of May graduates need to know now whether to make travel arrangements.

I know that crossing the stage is a defining moment for our students who have worked so hard to earn their degree(s), so please know that many people across campus are currently reviewing ways to still allow commencement to happen later in the year for any graduate wishing to participate. Whatever is decided, spring graduates will have an opportunity to participate in an in-person ceremony and cross the stage at a commencement ceremony, but you will officially graduate regardless of whether we hold a ceremony or not. As soon as we make a decision regarding these later ceremony options, we will share that information with our community.

For students who still need answers regarding our transition to online instruction, including such topics as the availability of laptops and textbooks, please visit our frequently asked questions page on the healthalerts.unt.edu website.

Thank you for your patience as we work together to allow our students to complete the current semester over the coming weeks. I understand that this is a difficult time for them, their families, and our faculty and staff, but we are pulling together and solving problems as they arise in a way that demonstrates our caring and creative UNT spirit.

 

Sincerely,
Neal Smatresk
UNT President