July 17, 2020

Dear UNT community members,

Providing our students and their families with the opportunity to celebrate the tremendous accomplishment of earning a college degree is one of the most important celebrations we have at UNT. Our hope was that we would join together for in-person ceremonies in August to celebrate our spring and summer graduates, but as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to unfold, it is clear that we still cannot safely provide that kind of event.

As we've monitored the ever-changing situation, we have considered many options and a group of dedicated faculty and staff have worked hard to plan live-stream commencement ceremonies to be held Aug. 18-21 so that we can celebrate our most recent graduates and their accomplishments. These virtual ceremonies will include most of the traditional commencement elements, but unfortunately will not be attended in person by our graduates or their guests. Learn more on the commencement website.

Even though commencement will not look like we originally hoped, it is important to remember that commencement ceremonies are the congratulatory events we host to publicly and formally recognize our graduates. Graduation is the process of being awarded a degree after completion of credit hours and other degree requirements. These students either already are UNT graduates or soon will be, depending on whether they were Spring 2020 graduates or are Summer 2020 graduation candidates.

Please know that our university community values our graduates and their successes. All of our UNT graduates demonstrate strength and persistence, and the Class of 2020, in particular, has faced a situation unlike anything UNT graduates have experienced before, one we hope no other class has to endure. Earning their college degrees during such uncertain times is an emblem of their courage, adaptability and determination. We are incredibly proud of them.

We hope you all will join us as we honor these graduates' hard work and dedication to pursuing their dreams.

UNT Proud,

 

Neal Smatresk

UNT President