By Blake Theisen / News Director

St. Cloud State University will be hosting its commencement ceremony for 2020 spring and summer graduates this Friday with a new twist.

In order to meet Minnesota State restrictions of group sizes and requirements for social distancing, SCSU will be hosting six separate 45 minute long ceremonies and each ceremony can have up to 250 people maximum.

The ceremonies will still be taking place in the Ritsche Auditorium, however because of the 250 people limit, staff and faculty will not be able to sit in the venue with the graduates. Instead, they will be allowed to watch a stream in Centennial Hall and then will be allowed to visit with graduates and their families before and after each ceremony.

Each of the ceremonies were broken up into different schools and colleges to accommodate the large numbers. There will also be a video stream of the ceremonies for friends and families to watch remotely. You can see the entire schedule for the day below.

• 9:00 am – College of Liberal Arts/School of the Arts & University College
• 11:00 am – College of Liberal Arts/School of the Arts & Health and Human Services
• 1:00 pm – School of Health and Human Services & Herberger Business School
• 3:00 pm – Herberger Business School & College of Science and Engineering/School of Computing, Engineering & Environment
• 5:00 pm – College of Science and Engineering/School of Computing, Engineering & Environment
• 7:00 pm – School of Education & School of Public Affairs

If you plan on attending the event, all attendees are required to wear a mask, cover their coughs or sneezes, and maintain proper social distancing of 6 feet.