After having virtual commencements and social-distanced celebrations, the University will be hosting an in-person graduation celebration in May 2022 for the graduating classes of ‘20, ‘21 and ‘22. Unlike the usual venue of Radio City Music Hall, graduation will be held on May 16 at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens. The announcement came as a shock to many students and The Pace Press had the opportunity to interview University President Marvin Krislov regarding commencement. Here you will find the transcription of the interview with President Krislov from Dec. 9 that will hopefully answer most of your commencement questions!

Britni Dunn: 

So, first off the obvious question. It’s being held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens. It used to be held at Radio City Music Hall. What are the motivations behind changing the venue? 

President Krislov:

We’re really excited about this new opportunity because it’s going to bring everyone together. It’s large enough, and it’s flexible enough that it can really create a great event for everyone. It’s not just a big commencement, but there’ll be separate college commencements as well. And, of course, it’s an iconic venue. We’ve also wanted a venue that could include ‘20 and ‘21 graduates and their families as well.

Truthfully, Radio City was just not big enough to include everyone in the families, and then particularly, you throw in the class of ‘20 and ‘21 grads… We want to create sort of an environment where there’ll be activities during the day; I know the students are meeting to try to plan out what that might mean. It might be performances, it might be posters, it might be all sorts of fun things, games and so forth.

Also, there’s a lot of access and plenty of parking. I know some people have expressed an interest in having things at their campus, we’re going to have pre-commencement activities on each of the campuses as well. We really want to get input and ideas and creativity from the students so we make that day a great day.

BD:

Are you still planning the pre-commencement activities you mentioned here at the campuses? And also the activities beforehand?

President Krislov:

It’s still very much in motion and if people have ideas, bring them on!

BD:

I know you had mentioned that it’s an iconic venue. So, to you, what makes the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center a fitting spot to have our graduation?

President Krislov:

Well, I’m a tennis fan. I’ve been there on several occasions and they have these big TV screens, and so it’s very exciting. There’s food and there are restrooms and there’s space. I mean, this is probably more personal. But, you know, Billie Jean King was a major figure and pioneer when I was growing up, and she’s continued to make history. I think that part is kind of a plus. It’s a great venue, it really accommodates our needs. It allows us to try some different things, and we’re going to do everything we can to make this year extraordinarily memorable. Then we’ll assess, but it seemed like the right thing to do for this year.

BD:

On the other side of it, I know that there have been students that are disappointed in not having graduation at Radio City. I know that online there have been a couple of petitions here and there that I’ve seen on Instagram, so I thought it would be remiss of me to not bring it up. I think some of the students are finding it difficult that it is in Queens and not Manhattan where the University is located. Or just the general, not having graduation at Radio City Music Hall as expected, there are multiple different things that students are focusing on. I wanted to ask what you would say to the students that are disappointed about not graduating at Radio City?

President Krislov:

I’d say I understand the disappointment. We are working on having a really great day that will be even better and more exciting. There will be one big ceremony, and then there’ll be separate college ceremonies as well. Plus the pre-commencement. The other thing was Radio City, we were really exceeding capacity. That was the problem, and when you consider it, we wanted to include ‘20 and ‘21 grads as well. It just, I mean, that wasn’t even conceivable with Radio City.

This has been a challenging period for everybody. We want to celebrate the students. We think this is bigger, and I hope, better than we’ve done in the past, actually. I’d say, help us make it the best it can possibly be. That’s where I’d really love to see the energy. We announced it early and we’ve tried to make it a very inclusive process. I know the Student Government and others are very much engaged in that right now. I just invite students to be a part of that process.

BD:

Do you expect 2020 and 2021 graduates to attend? I know that they’re allowed to attend, but do you expect many will be able to attend? 

President Krislov:

I think the more excitement there is, the more likely they are to come. My goal is to create as much excitement and as much energy. If the 2021 students tell us what they want, there are a lot of things that that venue creates an opportunity for, because there’s a lot of space, and we’re going to have control of it. Radio City, we were kind of in and out and it was actually quite challenging.

I know someone at another school, he wasn’t planning to go for his commencement. He decided that at the last minute he would attend and my guess is that, you know, some people are probably going to wait until they hear what’s happening. Either friends are going, it’s all about your friends. Right? So I just want to create a great experience for everybody, including the ‘20 and ‘21 graduates. We did what we could last year for the class of 2021. The class of 2020; it was a rough time and the law really didn’t allow much. So, we’re going to do everything we can and I hope I get plenty of students to come.

BD:

Will transportation be provided to the venue? 

President Krislov:

This is a question that’s coming up, and we’re looking at it. The subway does run out there. So it’s pretty convenient for people who have access to the subway. There may be options, but right now, we’re looking at that.

BD:

As of right now, I know this is ever-changing all of the time, but do you all have any idea of what COVID-19 requirements will be? 

President Krislov:

Here’s the good news, it’s outdoors. This gives us some assurance that we can go forward because it is outdoors and it’s so much safer. That’s one reason why we were comfortable going ahead with this, because it does give us that assurance that health and safety is going to be easier. There will be some requirements, I can’t tell you exactly what it’ll be in May. The Tennis Center has its own set of requirements too, so we’ll be working with them as well.

BD:

Was there anything else that I didn’t touch on about graduation that you wanted to say?

President Krislov:

In regards to COVID, we’re monitoring it and we’ll be in touch with state and local. We’ll give people as much notice as we possibly can.

BD:

I wanted to ask you how the semester has gone, in your opinion. Coming back from COVID-19 for almost two years and being on campus, what have you seen from students and faculty, and just how do you think things have gone this semester in general?

President Krislov:

You know, I went to midnight breakfast the other day, and it was so great. People were so happy. It’s the first time in two years that there were people who’d never been before; freshmen and sophomores who had never been before. I just think people are so excited to be back. And, look, it’s had challenges, I think we’ve done extraordinarily well, the positivity rates are very low. We’ve been able to handle them extremely well. And I give a ton of credit to the students. Because, you know, I mean, I have kids at the college age, too. It’s not what people imagined and I know, it’s taken extra effort.

It’s not always been easy, and I really applaud them. The same for the faculty and staff, it’s been challenging, and I think we’ve risen to the occasion. I’ve been very pleased. I taught a course at Pleasantville this semester, I’m teaching in the city in the spring and everyone wore masks in class. It was different, but it worked. There were a lot of people back and we had the largest first-year class in our history. I know that created some pressure on the facilities, but I think that people handled it really well and that there was a good spirit. I’m really proud of what we did together. Particularly, I want to say a big thank you, and congratulations to the students because I know it wasn’t easy.

More information can be found on the University commencement site, and students can offer input to their SGA representatives. The Pace Press congratulates all soon-to-be graduates!