by Pete Rosenbery
CARBONDALE, Ill. – The academic achievements of 1,400 Southern Illinois University Carbondale students and recent graduates will be celebrated at fall 2021 commencement exercises on Dec. 11 at the Banterra Center.
In an effort to keep graduates and their guests safe, two separate ceremonies – broken down by colleges and schools – are planned. Ceremonies will be held 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. and will be compliant with the Restore Illinois Plan. The university is committed to protecting the community, so all graduates and their guests must follow current campus and state pandemic safety protocols and wear masks in shared indoor spaces.
At this time, there is no limit to guests, and all seating will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis with no ticket required.
As of Nov. 29, there are 947 candidates for degrees for the fall 2021 semester: 654 for bachelor’s degrees, 221 for master’s degrees, 57 for doctoral degrees, six for law degrees and nine for associate degrees. In addition to those students, graduates from the summer 2021 in August are invited to participate in the ceremonies.
The fall commencement schedule for December 2021 graduates is:
11 a.m. ceremony
- College of Agricultural, Life, and Physical Sciences.
- College of Business and Analytics.
- College of Engineering, Computing, Technology, and Mathematics.
- School of Law.
- School of Medicine.
2 p.m. ceremony
- College of Arts and Media.
- College of Health and Human Sciences.
- College of Liberal Arts.
- School of Education.
More information is available at commencement.siu.edu. The ceremony will be available via livestream by clicking on the “Watch Live” button on the commencement website.
Significant accomplishment
This is the first time since fall 2019 that commencement ceremonies are being held indoors. The university held a virtual commencement in December 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In-person ceremonies were held outdoors at Saluki Stadium in May 2021.
Chancellor Austin Lane said commencement provides an opportunity to honor graduating Salukis.
“We are excited to offer in-person ceremonies for our graduates to celebrate this milestone with their families and friends,” he said. “They got to this point because they imagined their future and worked hard to achieve their goals. I would like to personally congratulate them.”