Thursday, May 07, 2020

Although members of the Class of 2020 will not be able to walk across the stage in May for the official UNCW commencement ceremonies, the campus and community can “shout them out” virtually in several ways from afar.

UNCW invites the Seahawk community to celebrate spring gradates by participating in a “Seahawk Salute” at 12 p.m. on Saturday, May 9 (what would have been day two of commencement ceremonies). Shoot a video making all the noise you can with a “Congrats, Class of 2020!” message and send it to SeahawkSalute@uncw.edu. Watch for a compilation reel in the weeks to come.

Spring graduates are invited to send photos of themselves showcasing their best Seahawk spirit for a Hawk-themed mosaic of the Class of 2020. Email photos to SeahawkSalute@uncw.edu by Friday, May 8.

Families, friends, faculty, staff and alumni are invited to congratulate a spring graduate and can do so by clicking here and selecting "Add to Board" at the top of the page to enter a message for the Class of 2020, or for a specific graduate. Photos, videos and thank you messages are welcome, too! Grads are also encouraged to post messages thanking their families or others who have helped along the way.

Browse stories of our soon-to-be-alumni through a special "We Are the Class of 2020!" feature that highlights just a few of the many graduates who have learned a lot of life lessons, aside from their academic instruction, during their time at UNCW.

The following virtual departmental celebrations are open for others to join:

The Department of Biology and Marine Biology virtual graduation celebration will take place at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 9, via their YouTube Channel.

The Department of Communication Studies virtual graduation ceremony will take place via Facebook live at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 9.

The Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences is hosting a virtual ceremony for its master’s in geoscience and GIS certificate programs at 11 a.m. on Friday, May 8 via Zoom.

The Honors College’s Virtual Medallion Ceremony will take place at 1 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday, May 23. Click here for more information.

The School of Nursing prelicensure virtual graduation celebration will occur at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 8 via Facebook Live.

The UNCW Upperman African American Cultural Center is hosting the Senior Sankofa celebration on Friday, May 8 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. via Instagram: @UNCWUppermanCenter.

-- Caroline Cropp