COVID-19 robbed alumni’s ceremony

janine shuman
campus editor

While TCC’s graduation announcement excited 2021 graduates, the class of 2019–2020 is disappointed in missing out on the momentous occasion.

TCC announced a rolling commencement ceremony will be held May 15 for students who graduated in the summer, spring and fall semesters between 2020 and 2021.

TR student Chantel Dalby missed out on graduation because it was canceled last year due to COVID-19.

“I think it’s ridiculous to have a make-up ceremony for only some but not all,” Dalby said. 

TR nursing student Kristian Mustafi graduated in 2019 and is saddened to have missed out on the commencement and pinning ceremony after all of the hard work she put into the achievement.

“I think rolling commencement ceremonies are a good idea and I am glad they are offering them some sort of celebration to mark their graduation,” Mustafi said. “But I think they should consider the class of 2019-2020 since they didn’t receive graduation and some may not have another graduation planned in their near future from a four-year university.”

TR student Maria Granados said TCC may think past graduates have moved on, attributing that as the reason for excluding them from the ceremony. Despite this being a possibility for some students, Granados believes there are many students who would greatly appreciate being a part of the occasion that many cherish forever.

“A lot of our families waited for us to graduate to see us in a cap and gown and watch us get our degrees,” Dalby said. “It’s a big moment in a person’s life and after all of the money we pay to go to TCC, I think we deserve it.”


Logan Evans/The Collegian
Firefighters scale a 150-foot ladder to spray the burning Advanced Foam Recycling plant with water.

Alumni fight giant factory fire
A flowering plume of smoke bruised the sky over Fort Worth a deep black, spilling out from what had once been Advanced Foam Recycling in Richland Hills.
https://collegian.tccd.edu/alumni-fight-giant-factory-fire/