"Lazy, cheap, not good enough": why USyd needs to revise its online graduation plan

Nicolette Petra is not having this a second time.

If you’re a student at the University of Sydney, you would have received an email from the Office of the Vice-Chancellor and Principal on Thursday last week. You’d be forgiven for thinking it was merely an update about the University’s decision to extend online learning since that’s what was highlighted in the email’s subject and orange letterhead. However, while the bulk of the email pertained to online learning, there was an equally important though far more subtle announcement: the remaining graduations for 2021 will also be held online.

A screenshot of the email sent to students stating that graduations will be held online.

The University’s barely-there announcement came as a shock and disappointment to many.

“My heart sank when I saw that it was going to be online,” said Alissa Chaitarvornkit, who completed her Biomedical Engineering and Medical Science degrees in semester 1 after five and half years of study and was due to graduate in semester 2. 

“A wave of emotions hit me, [as did] the reality that I will never achieve my dream of graduating at the Quad,” she said. “…I’m sad that my parents will never see their daughter graduate after working so hard and fighting to give her a better life and education.”

“It just feels so lazy and cheap on the part of USyd,” said Sophie Mack, who also completed her five and half years of Law study earlier this year. “They could easily hold [graduations] in a Covid-safe way.”

This is not the first time students have been disappointed by the University’s response to post-pandemic graduations. Only after a Pulp article was published last year, did the University decide an online graduation ceremony would celebrate its students more effectively than its original plan - a PDF version of students’ degrees attached to a generic congratulatory email.

In rectifying this, USyd took the lead from other universities worldwide and live-streamed a graduation ceremony which all graduating students (and two plus-ones) could attend. At the time, the online graduation ceremony made sense, what with so many unknowns: an alarmingly infectious virus, ever-changing restrictions, and confusion as to exactly what “Covid-safe” entailed. 

Even so, many 2020 graduates (myself included) held out hope that the University would grant them ‘the opportunity to do it right once a sense of consistent normalcy [ensued]’. For UNSW students, this hope was realised through both an online graduation ceremony in 2020 as well as delayed in-person ceremonies in 2021. Unfortunately, the latter never happened at USyd. 

Now, the University of Sydney has again chosen to treat a generalised, impersonal, catch-all online graduation ceremony as an alternative to in-person ceremonies, rather than a temporary supplement.

“USYD has had over a year to establish an alternative [to online ceremonies], and they’ve no doubt seen other large universities, such as UNSW, make it work,” said Sarah Cutter-Russell, a University of Sydney student.

Frustrated by the University’s announcement, Cutter-Russell has started a petition to reschedule in-person graduations for 2022. 

“I started it because my partner and countless friends have been impacted by USyd’s decision [and] are currently feeling devastated and betrayed - I felt like it was something we should fight,” said Cutter-Russell. 

“With the state so close to reopening, this is not good enough,” she continued. “[Students] pay thousands to the University, and have worked hard for years for this achievement. The least USyd can do is be flexible, and recognise how important these ceremonies are to their community.”

To date, the petition has garnered over 600 signatures. It also has the backing of Student Fellows of USyd’s Senate, Gabi Stricker-Phelps and Lachlan Finch.

“The University of Sydney, as it always has done, should be leading the way forward – and right now that means reimagining what our graduation ceremonies could look like to ensure ceremonies can continue in-person in a COVID-safe way,” said Stricker-Phelps and Finch in a joint statement to Pulp. 

The success of student lobbying through the petition and action by student leadership has caused the University to amend its statement about online graduations; it is now currently “[reconsidering] whether it is possible to hold graduation celebrations in some form in December 2021.”

“The Vice-Chancellor has been very receptive to the concern expressed by our student community and has assured us that the University will be revising their position next week,” said Stricker-Phelps and Finch.

This willingness to reconsider is an undoubtedly quick and positive turnaround from the University. What’s more, the students behind this lobbying should be commended for their tenacity and willpower in bringing about this turnaround.

Now, USyd graduands wait with bated breath for an announcement of a slightly delayed but nevertheless Covid-safe in-person graduation season. However, that the University has needed to be persuaded by its students to deliver more than the bare minimum for the second consecutive year should not be overlooked. More ironic still, the University recently advertised its running trend of having the most employable graduates in Australia. Against this backdrop, the University’s failure to adequately and meaningfully recognise and celebrate those very same graduates creates the impression of skirting basic expectations and being out of touch with its student body.

Fingers crossed the graduating class of 2021 will not share the same fate as that of 2020, lest the University wishes to boast a second, far less flattering trend.

You can sign the petition here.
Do you have ideas about how COVID-safe graduations should look? Contact Gabi and Lachlan: gabrielle.stricker-phelps@sydney.edu.au; lachlan.finch@sydney.edu.au