UVM class of 2024 celebrates graduation without commencement speaker

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - The University of Vermont class of 2024 celebrated a historic graduation on Sunday.

Four years after COVID-19 robbed many high school seniors of graduation ceremonies, UVM’s class of 2024 got a proper celebration. Grads like Paige Fisher, who had a makeshift high school graduation months after her senior year ended, relished the moment.

“That was super weird because the next week I was going to college,” Fisher explained. “It feels really great to have a normal graduation.”

Carter Franciskovich in the College of Arts and Sciences echoed Fisher.

“There were questions about whether or not it would ever get back to normal, whether or not there would be celebrations like this in person the way it is now,” Fisher said. “So good to kind of feel like it’s normal again.”

COVID wasn’t the only hurdle the class of 2024 faced. Students say local shockwaves of the Israel-Hamas war forced a campus reckoning.

“The shooting of three Palestinian men in December served as a stark reminder that we must stand together as a community in the face of hate and adversity,” Student Government Association President Olivia Eisenberg said to the commencement crowd.

Students are still feeling those shockwaves. Just weeks ago, pro-Palestinian student protestors successfully canceled this year’s planned commencement speaker, U.N. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who they say vetoed three ceasefire resolutions.

“The problems of Vermont, the United States and the world are our problems,” Thomas Borchert of UVM said into the mic. “There are no campus gates at UVM.”

Students weren’t the only ones using their voices. Union members with UVM Staff United gathered near the commencement stage, demanding livable wages.

“We’re here to let students and parents know what’s going on,” UVM Staff United Co-President Claire Whitehouse said. “This is the labor market students are graduating into.”

Despite or perhaps because of the many challenges they faced along the way, graduates held their heads a little higher walking across the stage.

“I didn’t realize I was going to be so emotional but it’s so surreal just to have it all happen and reflect on this time of life,” Fisher said, shaking her head.

College of Arts and Sciences grad Clara Feldman was also in shock.

“It’s surreal for sure,” Feldman said. “UVM has been a really important community for me. I love Vermont a lot and I’ve met my best friends here.”

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