With commencements postponed, Class of ’20 becomes Class of Covid-19

This was supposed to be a big weekend — the kick-off of college commencement season that would culminate in graduation ceremonies for about 15,000 students at colleges and universities across the region over the next month.

Pitt and Point Park University were poised to lead the way this weekend with commencement ceremonies for more than 8,000 undergraduate and graduate members of the Class of 2020.

Then covid-19 changed the world.

Instead of marching to “Pomp and Circumstance” in academic gowns and mortar boards, the Class of Covid will have to make do with online congratulatory messages and the promise of official ceremonies in the fall.

By that time, Janet Canady should be in St. Louis.

The 22-year-old New Kensington woman, who was scheduled to pick up her degree in biomedical engineering at Pitt’s Oakland campus, will be starting a graduate research fellowship in medical sociology at Washington University in St. Louis in late August.

She was saddened when Pitt announced spring commencement was being put on hold.

“Graduation was a huge deal for me,” Canady said. “I’m the first generation to graduate from college in my family. My parents died when I was young, and my grandparents raised me since I was 12. They were really my inspiration and my motivation. And it was painful to see them disappointed.”

Instead of trekking to Pitt’s Petersen Events Center, Earnest and Osalie Patterson will join their granddaughter to watch a virtual ceremony.

“At least they can enjoy that, and we’ll be together,” Canady said.

The virus hasn’t dampened her enthusiasm for her studies. One of a handful of black female engineers, she hopes to focus her research on racial disparities in the design of medical devices.

“My grandparents have had a lot of health problems. So I feel like this is another way to make a difference and honor them as well,” she said.

Like Canady, Kaylee Stinebiser was scheduled to pick up her degree this weekend.

The 22 year-old Youngwood woman spent the last four years racking up honors at Pitt-Greensburg, attending college full time, working for Medcare Equipment, teaching dance classes once a week for the Susan Yadamec Dance Co. and editing the campus newspaper.

She picked up her cap and gown March 5, just before spring break began. Pitt was on spring break when officials were directed to shutter the campus and transition to online instruction.

Stinebiser was allowed to return to campus March 16 to clean out her office at the newspaper.

“The campus was really quiet, really sad. I was emotional that day,” she said. “It would have been nice to say good-bye to everyone that day, but no one else was there.”

And then there were the honor cords that never came. A summa cum laude graduate and inductee to three honor societies, Stinebiser was looking forward to wearing the colorful cords that distinguish honor students draped around her blue gown.

“I really wanted to feel that weight,” she said.

She planned to gather at home with her parents and grandparents Saturday to watch Pitt-Greensburg President Robert Gregerson honor graduates in a special video.

Point Park University President Paul Hennigan likewise will take to the air Saturday morning to honor new graduates of the Downtown university. Point Park announced it was postponing commencement because of social distancing concerns two days after Pitt made its decision.

University spokesman Lou Corsaro said Point Park surveyed graduating seniors and found “an overwhelming majority” said they would prefer to come back this fall for a real ceremony, as opposed to any kind of virtual graduation. He said the university plans to make that happen and will reach out to the Class of 2020 once it has set a date.

Like Stinebiser, Jared Hoffman, 23, of Scenery Hill was scheduled to graduate from Pitt-Greensburg this weekend with honors. He studied communications and human resources and worked at a local restaurant near the campus where he lived in one of the residence halls.

He has pictures his family took of him in his cap and gown.

“I feel like I’m lucky,” Hoffman said. “My twin brother, David, is graduating from Geneva College, and he didn’t even have a chance to get that.”

Losing the last six weeks of school and being laid-off from his job at Olive Garden was a disappointment. But Hoffman said it has proved to him that he can adapt to change, and that could be a valuable ability in a rapidly changing world.

“I’ve been focusing on my job search,” he said. “I’ve sent out well over 100 resumes already. I’m pretty sure I will have to leave the area to find work.”

Stinebiser, who was laid off from her job at Medcare when the shutdown began, hopes to go back to work soon. She’s planning on taking a gap year, sitting for the law school entrance exams this fall and heading to law school in fall 2021.

“That’s always been the plan,” she said, “and this hasn’t changed it.”