UND Hosts Virtual Commencement For The Class Of 2020

Students are encouraged to post their graduation pictures online with the hashtag #UNDProud

GRAND FORKS, N.D. — Todd Buchwitz was not expecting to be graduating in the living room of his home.

“I mean back in January and February, I wouldn’t have predicted this at all. And then, things changed quickly,” says Buchwitz, who graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering.

So quickly that he wasn’t able to properly say goodbye to some of his friends, with whom he had spent four years of his life.

“I was not able to see any of them again. There were a few that I was able to say goodbye to, but most of them no, I sadly couldn’t even see them,” says Buchwitz.

Although this was a different experience than what he was hoping for, it was still exciting because the road to get to this moment was not an easy one.

“There were times that I didn’t think I was going to. I was like, I can’t do this and so after all those years to finally graduate today, I couldn’t even believe how I felt. It was just indescribable,” he says.

UND made sure to give the students the closest thing to an actual graduation as they could.

“This is not what I or you expected as we headed into 2020. Commencement should be about celebrating and recognizing your accomplishments. You earned it, you deserved it,” says Joshua Wynne, the President of the University of North Dakota.

What is Buchwitz message for the 2020 graduating class?

“This situation is unprecedented and we were still able to make it this far. So, give yourselves a pat on the back and a round of applause for everybody else who graduated because you still got through it. Even through circumstances that have not happened ever before,” he adds.

The school is planning on letting the spring seniors walk the stage at the winter commencement