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Amid other changes to operations announced Tuesday night, the University of Virginia said that this year’s Final Exercises will not take place as planned due to the threat posed by the novel coronavirus, and that staff are hard at work developing alternatives.

Those options include possibly postponing until a later date, UVA President Jim Ryan clarified in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

Tuesday’s announcement understandably sparked disappointment and dismay among students in the Class of 2020, as well as their families and the many faculty members and staff who work on, and look forward to, Final Exercises each year.

“We do not make this decision lightly, as we know how disappointing it will be to the graduating students and their families,” Ryan and Provost Liz Magill said in an email to the University community Tuesday.

“That said, a team is already focused on developing creative alternatives to mark this important occasion, and we will communicate updates as we have them.”

Pamela Higgins, executive director of major events at UVA, is helping lead that team. Higgins has planned decades of Final Exercises celebrations at UVA and will use all of her team’s experience and creativity to face this new challenge.

We spoke with her to get a few answers to common questions and learn more about unfolding plans.

Q. Are Final Exercises cancelled?

A. Plans for a traditional Final Exercises ceremony in May – usually a three-day celebration on the Lawn involving thousands of people and including Valediction and two days of Final Exercises – are cancelled, sadly. This is part of our efforts and collective responsibility to “flatten the curve,” minimize the spread of this virus and avoid overwhelming our nation’s health care system, as well as to comply with recommendations from government and public health authorities.

We are all so sorry for the students in the Class of 2020, who have worked so hard to get to this point, and we want them to know that we are doing our best to find a way to honor this important occasion appropriately, while also doing our part as a university to contain this public health crisis.

Q. Why was the decision made this week, instead of in April when the University originally said it would make a decision?

A. As President Ryan and Provost Magill said in their message announcing the operational changes, University leaders wanted to be mindful of the need for students, their families and our faculty and staff to plan ahead, and of protecting faculty and staff who would ordinarily be coming in to work on things like Final Exercises. We also wanted to be cognizant of changing recommendations from the government and public health officials.  

It was a very difficult decision, but we wanted to share updates as directly as we could, and redirect resources to develop alternate plans.

Q. Will students receive degrees?

A. Yes. I want to stress that students who are earning degrees will receive their degrees, and that we have staff working on developing alternatives to the typical May celebration.

Q. What options are being considered to honor graduates?

A. We are currently looking into alternatives, including the possibility of postponing Final Exercises to a later date. There are a lot of logistics to figure out. This consideration has only recently begun, as things have moved very quickly with this pandemic and we all face a lot of uncertainty.

Many University staff are currently focused on crucial issues from operations to online instruction and, of course, the most important consideration right now – serving patients through UVA Health and protecting the health and safety of our students, faculty, staff and the wider Charlottesville community.

So there is a lot going on, as everyone knows. We are convening a group to explore alternatives, including postponement, and that work has already begun.

Q. When will something be announced?

A. It is hard to give exact timing right now, but we will continue communicate updates as we have them, and hope to share more details soon.