Winona State University is pleased to announce it will honor nearly 1200 spring graduates this Friday both virtually and in person.
Graduates, family, friends, and the Winona community are invited to watch the 6 p.m. Virtual Commencement Celebration during a live watch party to hear speeches by President Scott Olson and the Class of 2021 student speaker Michael Desch.
With music by the Winona State choir and band along with a commemorative video created for and by the Class of 2021 students, the live watch party will be streamed on WSU’s YouTube channel and commencement website.
Also on Friday, WSU will hold two in-person Name Reading Ceremonies in the morning where graduates will walk through the traditional faculty and staff Applause Tunnel and hear their names read while walking across the stage. A livestream will be available on the commencement website for the 8:30 a.m. ceremony for the Colleges of Nursing and Health Sciences as well as Science & Engineering, and later an 11:30 a.m. ceremony for the Colleges of Business, Education, and Liberal Arts.
Following each Name Reading Ceremony, graduates will head to the outdoor courtyard to become the first participants in a brand-new Bell-Ringing Tradition, where each student will ring the 275lb Commencement Bell to be heard across the city, announcing their achievement as a WSU graduate.
Spring 2021 marks the third virtual commencement celebration WSU has held while not being able to host an in-person ceremony due to COVID-19. The University’s fall celebration reached nearly 60,000 people across 29 countries.
WSU congratulates its graduating class of Spring 2021. It will forever be proud of the resilience, professionalism, and success of this year’s graduates, who have risen above the many challenges presented this year.
For more information and to join the Spring 2021 Celebration, visit WSU’s commencement website.
