Northern Arizona University held a virtual commencement ceremony Friday for its nearly 6,000 students graduating this spring. It was the first Arizona public university to hold a virtual graduation after the coronavirus pandemic upended in-person celebrations.
NAU President Rita Cheng commended the grads on their resilience.
“You successfully transitioned to online learning and completed your degree under great uncertainty," she said. "In many ways you have confirmed what we already knew: that Lumberjacks are resilient during times of adversity, and we are here for each other during times of need.”
But student Christina Vu didn’t tune in.
She is a daughter of Vietnamese immigrants. She said her family highly values education and to them graduations are bigger milestones than weddings. So for her, a virtual ceremony wasn’t enough.
"A virtual graduation that I can't celebrate with my family, who are now unable to fly over to Arizona, doesn't seem like much of a celebration at all," Vu said. "I'm happy to graduate and move onto the next phase of my education, but I am saddened that my family can't watch me cross the stage with my diploma."
Vu plans to attend medical school and hopes her family will be with her the next time she graduates.
