Outdoor ENMU graduation first in decades

PORTALES — Following a year that was unprecedented due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Eastern New Mexico University will have a commencement to match.

What is believed to be the first outdoor commencement in university history is set for 10 a.m. Saturday at Greyhound Stadium, with 396 students committed to walk in the ceremony as of Monday morning.

The college has 698 spring graduates, and 68 summer graduates who traditionally have the opportunity to walk before they finish up those last few classes.

Nick Singer, who will graduate Saturday with a degree in digital filmmaking, will be back in Portales for the first time since March 2020, when the COVID-19 started with an extended spring break. The rest of the semester was done online, as was the fall semester. Singer continued to do his senior year virtually from Albuquerque, even as the school brought some classes back to face-to-face levels.

Singer said he is looking forward to being back at the place where he didn’t feel like he was just a number on campus or the community that surrounded it.

“You feel like you could walk down the street and everyone knows you,” said Singer, who hopes to catch an editing position at the new Netflix studios in Albuquerque. “Most of the teachers I know have become really close to me.”

The university has held its last two commencements virtually, via livestream and KENW-TV. Chancellor Patrice Caldwell said a handful of students who were part of those graduations have inquired about walking in Saturday’s event, and they are welcome as long as there is ample space. Recent history has seen most ENMU commencements take place at Greyhound Arena.

“Pandemic protocols will mean we can’t line up a procession of students and faculty, as we would in the arena, and we will miss the pageantry of their entering the arena to cheers of the crowd,” Caldwell told The News in a series of questions answered via email. “But we will copy as much of our traditional ceremony as possible.

“Students will sing the national anthem and the alma mater, and ENMU’s student brass ensemble will play the processional and recessional. Four student speakers will address the audience, and Lt. Gov. Howie Morales will give the keynote address. We will hood students and present diplomas in the traditional manner. It will be a great event. We are grateful to these students for their persistence, their families, friends, faculty and staff who supported them, and the Portales community, our home, and our biggest supporter.”

The ceremony will also be livestreamed at enmu.edu/virtualgraduation, and so far the college has included 70 photos from graduates who will not attend the event in person.

When Greyhound Stadium was first pitched prior to its 2015 opening, one of its selling points is that it could also host other events like soccer games, track meets and band competitions. Few if any anticipated graduations would be one of those events, but this month will see the facility hold its first two graduations. Portales High School is also slated to hold its commencement there on May 28.

Caldwell said while previous ENMU commencements have been held at churches, Portales High School and even the Yam Theater, she couldn’t find any reference to an outdoor commencement and believes Saturday’s will be the first. She did include the caveat that the university would be happy to hear from any alumni or community members who have knowledge of one (Editor's note: Since publication, ENMU alumni have contacted The News regarding ceremonies held in the university's on-campus football stadium in the 1960s).

Caldwell said there will be challenges to the outdoor event, with New Mexico weather uncertainties the first concern. But the stadium’s space is a great tradeoff, as it means the university won’t require tickets for the event. The stadium will open for seating at 9 a.m., with the stadium’s home entrance set aside for audience members. Families are asked to maintain proper social distancing and keep family pods to eight individuals or less.

The graduation will have various COVID-safe protocols for participants, including masks throughout the event. Masks may be momentarily removed for professional photographs before or after receiving an award, but the individual must be the only person in the frame. Contact will be kept to a minimum, though the standard hoodings and pinnings for graduate-level ceremonies will take place.

During the ceremony, only official university and media photographers will be allowed access to the stage and the graduates’ seating area for taking photographs. Family and friends must not enter on to the field to take personal pictures.

Despite all of the protocols, Singer said he’s looking forward to what has been an unusual senior year.

“It feels a little melancholy, because it doesn’t feel like the traditional experience,” said Singer, a Rio Rancho High graduate who loved “Jurassic Park” and “Star Wars” as a kid and grew more interested in the nuts and bolts as he grew up. “But at the same time, I’ve felt so connected to the teachers even though I’m miles away. I feel as close as ever.”