Commencement 2021
Plans will be adjusted if required by state protocols.
Format, dates, and times: Nazareth is planning multiple in-person Commencement ceremonies for graduating students inside Golisano Training Center (GTC) on campus. See guest details below. Advance registration plus COVID-19 testing, positive case history, or vaccination documentation is required from all guests on campus as well as from all graduates. Ceremonies also will be livestreamed, viewable on large screens on campus (see requirements for all on-campus guests, below) or on your own device (on or off campus) from anywhere with internet access. Masks, 6-foot distancing, and other health and safety measures are required on campus.
Guests for Commencement ceremonies
There are two types of guests on Commencement day, with different registration processes:
- Advance registration required for GTC, by end of day Monday, May 10: Two guests are permitted per graduating student inside GTC, due to state capacity limits.
- Graduates receive an email April 23 (subject line: Register now for Naz Commencement: graduate + guests) with a link to register yourself and your one or two guests (if any), or to indicate you don’t plan to attend.
- To fill out the form, graduates will need to know each guest’s full name, date of birth, address, phone number, and email address (all required by New York state for contact tracing).
- Only graduates can register guests for GTC.
- Livestream: Advance registration required to be on campus to watch livestream. Register at least 24 hours before arriving on campus. Graduates can have additional guests on campus (who are not in GTC). Guests must register themselves online (or their graduate can register these guests) at least 24 hours in advance using the pandemic visitor registration steps. These guests can choose to watch the livestream on large screens in Callahan Theater (in the Arts Center) or in Beston Hall (in Glazer Music Performance Center) — see campus Commencement map — as space permits (first-come, first-served), or on your own device. Wi-Fi is available in the Aviary tent in the O’Connor quad (shown on campus Commencement map) and in any building.
- Choose the NazCommunityWifi network
- Password (case sensitive): GoldenFlyers
- Upon arrival, all guests (whether for GTC or not) must provide:
- photo ID (children must be with a parent/guardian who has ID)
- proof of one of these: COVID-19 testing, positive COVID-19 case history, or vaccination that occurred within the following specific time periods, as required by New York state
- And your green badge with QR code result from your online COVID-19 symptom/exposure screening, which needs to be done the day of Commencement. See more details below.
- GTC-registered guests also must show the bar-coded ticket received via email.
Testing/vaccination and screening details for all guests
Due to New York state regulations, each guest must complete these steps before Commencement:
- Be registered in advance
- Compile required documentation (listed below) to show at a campus welcome station.
- The day of Commencement, as a registered guest, you’ll also get an email with a link to complete the visitor symptom/exposure screening online.
- If you get a red badge/QR code result, you are not permitted on campus.
- A green badge/QR code result allows you to be on campus. (Show it on a mobile device or you can print it. Your badge will continue to be viewable all day on a mobile device at that same link.)
- You can view the screening questions in advance.
- If you are coming from a state beyond New York and the states that border New York, the screening webpage includes a link to also follow the New York state travel advisory, which calls for filling out a Traveler Health Form for the state.
Required documentation to have ready to show at a campus welcome station on your student’s Commencement day:
- Photo ID
- and evidence of one of these:
- a negative COVID-19 test — either a negative FDA-approved antigen rapid test completed within 6 hours of the event, or a negative FDA-approved PCR test completed within 72 hours of the event. (See "Where is testing available," below.)
- or COVID-19 vaccination completed at least 14 days before Commencement
- or a positive COVID-19 test within the 90 days before Commencement (and public health professionals have cleared you from isolation)
Acceptable forms of proof: Paper copy or digital (including the New York state Excelsior Pass).
- Your green badge QR code result from your online screening, as explained above.
- If your student registered you to be inside GTC, show your bar-coded ticket to receive a wristband to enter GTC.
Guests who arrive without completing these state-required steps will not be permitted on campus and could watch the livestreamed ceremony from off campus. (That page will be active during Commencement ceremonies.)
Where is testing available (for people with no symptoms)?
- Testing is available to New York state residents at no charge at test sites run by New York state. (Locally, the state runs a drive-through PCR test site in the parking lot at Monroe Community College.)
- Call the state's hotline for an appointment, 888-364-3065.
- For test site information, see the state's COVID-19 Screening webpage. (You will be asked about symptoms but regardless of the answers, free testing is offered at state-run test sites for all New York residents.)
- Monroe County (where our campus is located) offers free, rapid COVID-19 testing, and you do not have to live in the county. The county posts appointment openings at noon Fridays for the following week; county officials said they don't expect to offer testing May 14 but will offer testing from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 15, at East High School. See Testing Information.
- Test sites operated by private companies (pharmacies, medical practices, not-for-profits) may charge fees; you can check with the testing site and your insurer in advance of being tested.
- Pharmacies such as CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart are beginning to sell (in stores and online) over-the-counter rapid self-tests. FDA-approved rapid antigen tests such as Abbott Laboratories' BinaxNow and Ellume's COVID-19 home test meet the state's requirement.
- Across the country, testing is available through pharmacies and other community locations; you also can check with your local health care provider or your local or state health department for testing opportunities near your home. Costs and insurance coverage may vary.
Where is vaccination available?
Check VaccineFinder or your local county health department. Full vaccination needs to have been completed at least 14 days before Commencement to be used for access to campus on Commencement day.
Other details for guests
Please also review these details for your student's ceremony:
Friday, May 14
Saturday, May 15
Graduating students
On the day of Commencement, all graduating students must first visit the Shults Center gym (see details below) to either have a rapid COVID-19 test or to provide proof of vaccination or of a positive case history within the periods specified below, and to get a wristband to be admitted to GTC for Commencement. You will not be admitted to the GTC without the wristband.
Testing/vaccination details for graduates
- Before arriving on campus, complete your online symptom/exposure screening. Be prepared to show your green badge result and your NazCard ID upon arrival at a campus welcome station.
- If you have completed COVID-19 vaccination at least 14 days before Commencement, or if you had a positive COVID-19 test within the 90 days before Commencement, stop in at the Shults Center gymnasium at least 75 minutes before your ceremony start time to show documentation. For vaccination, that can be either your paper vaccination card or electronic proof (including the New York state Excelsior Pass app).
- Otherwise, you need a COVID-19 rapid test completed between two and six hours before your Commencement ceremony. Nazareth is providing rapid testing (only for graduating students) in the Shults gym. Walk-in hours for graduates with your NazCard ID:
- 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. on May 14 for graduate Commencement
- 7 a.m. - 4 p.m. on May 15 for undergraduate Commencement
- If you test positive for COVID-19 the day of Commencement, you will not be able to participate in the live ceremony, but you will be able to watch the livestream. Our Health and Counseling staff at the Shults gym on May 14 and May 15 would help make arrangements to move you safely off campus and facilitate the next steps you need to take.
Graduating students are asked to complete that process in the Shults gym and be at the turf field in Golisano Training Center one hour before your ceremony.
Other details for graduates
Please also review info about your ceremony:
Friday, May 14
Saturday, May 15
Guests on campus May 9-13
- We welcome two guests at a time per graduating student onto campus May 9-13, such as if you’d like to take photos or your graduate wants to show you around.
- Guests must register online at least 24 hours in advance (by themself, or helped by their student) using the pandemic visitor registration steps; that webpage also specifies the online symptom/exposure screening required on the day of the visit. (These earlier dates do not require the extra testing/vaccination documentation that the state requires for a larger event such as Commencement.)
Celebration Toolkit
Looking for Naz Class of 2021 printable signs/banners, Zoom backgrounds, or social media badges and templates? Celebration Toolkit »
FAQs
Would an infant or lap-sitting child count as one of my two permitted guests?
What if one of my guests can't wear a mask?
The College’s face covering policy requires all people on campus over age 2 to wear a mask. Face shields will be available at the welcome station if someone needs that alternative. People who can’t wear a mask or a face shield could watch the ceremony’s livestream from off campus.
What if a guest doesn’t use email?
Use the email of someone who can talk to that guest on the visit day to fill out the required online screening for that guest. Backup plan: The guest could complete the screening verbally with a campus staff member upon arrival at the welcome station.
Will masks be available at the entrance welcome station, or must people bring their own?
Masks will be available at the entrance welcome station (and at the entrance to Golisano Training Center) for those who do not have one.
Who registers any additional guests who want to be on campus on Commencement day: the student or the guest?
Either way. The (non-GTC) visitor registration form collects name, phone, email, event location (livestream), event name (Commencement livestream), Nazareth contact person (graduating student), purpose of visit, date and time of visit (expected campus arrival time), and duration of visit (in hours).
Meanwhile, people who plan to watch the livestream from any off-campus location do not need to register. The livestream link will be on the Commencement homepage, viewable by anyone.
Commencement 2021 Speaker Goodwell Nzou '15
About Goodwell Nzou
Goodwell Nzou, who was born and raised in Zimbabwe, completed his B.S. in chemistry at Nazareth, and his Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biosciences at Wake Forest University. As a doctoral student, he contributed to a breakthrough model of the brain that holds promise for neurodegenerative drug discovery, specifically for diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and multiple sclerosis.
Goodwell did his postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research, where he investigated treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. He is currently a senior field clinical scientist for Abbott, where he is managing clinical trials for neuromodulation and deep brain stimulation.
He has toured Europe and America as a percussionist with his internationally recognized band, Liyana, which was featured in the Oscar-winning documentary Music by Prudence.
Are you on the list?
Please check: This list includes all students approved to participate in a 2021 commencement ceremony, sorted alphabetically by legal last name.
If you are a student expecting to graduate but are missing from the list, please email registrar@naz.edu with your full name and Naz ID number, so we can check your status. This list will be continually updated by the Registrar's Office as additional students are approved.
The Registrar's Office must verify all requirements are met before degree conferral.
