Petition asks TRU to postpone spring convocation, not cancel

Photo: Tereza Verenca

A graduation ceremony inside the TCC in 2019.

More than 2,600 people have signed an online petition asking Thompson Rivers University (TRU) to not cancel convocation and commencement ceremonies, but to postpone them. 

On March 31, TRU notified graduating students that it was cancelling the spring events because of the pandemic. President and vice-chancellor Brett Fairbairn announced every graduate would receive their parchment and a commemorative booklet in the mail. He said TRU was also exploring the idea of creating a "virtual space" where graduates, faculty and family and friends could share congratulatory messages, photos, videos and well wishes. 

In her Change.org petition, student Nicole Welsh is calling on TRU to reschedule the ceremonies at a later, to-be-determined date. 

"Myself and other graduating students have put YEARS of effort into receiving our degrees," Welsh writes. "We have paid thousands of dollars with the expectation that one day we will earn our right to walk across the stage and be handed our degrees. Perhaps, more importantly, our families, many of which have also worked so hard to provide us the emotional and possibly financial support to reach this point, deserve to see us walk that stage."

In an emailed statement to Castanet, Fairbairn says, "Unfortunately, we have no definitive timeline for how the situation with COVID-19 will evolve or when we will again be able to hold large gatherings. For these reasons, we are moving ahead with holding the spring convocation ceremony virtually so that graduates can participate."

Click here to view the petition.

Editor's note: This story was updated to include additional comments from Brett Fairbairn.