Celebrating the Class of 2020

A Heartwarming EPILOGUE

With ceremonial bagpipes and a weekend of fun, Skidmore welcomed members of the Class of 2020 back to campus for an emotional Commencement Celebration long delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking to a standing-room-only audience in Zankel Music Center, Jinan Al-Busaidi ’20, president of the class, expressed excitement about the opportunity to reconnect with more than 300 classmates and finally “celebrate our class the way we deserve to be celebrated.”

Like students across the world, most Skidmore students abruptly left campus in spring 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Members of Skidmore’s Class of 2020 went on to receive their diplomas in the mail and joined a virtual Commencement ceremony.

The June 4 Commencement Celebration featured many aspects of Skidmore tradition: live bagpipes, the opportunity to march across the stage in front of friends and family, speeches, the granting of honorary degrees, and the singing of Skidmore’s Alma Mater. Many members of the class also opted to wear regalia.

But in many ways, the ceremony was also more lighthearted, as class members laughed and relished the opportunity to be back together again. One member of the class jovially handed President Marc Conner a rubber duck; another scooted across the stage in roller skates.

Al-Busaidi opened the ceremony by acknowledging classmates and loved ones who could not attend the celebration, which was also livestreamed, and received thundering applause from the audience. In their speeches, Conner, Alumni Association President Robert F. Resnick ’88, and College President Emeritus Philip A. Glotzbach all acknowledged the unique challenges that members of the class had faced and their remarkable resilience.

An extended weekend of celebrations for the Class of 2020 also featured many traditional components of Senior Week. Members of the class stayed in Skidmore campus housing. They joined a Brick Celebration and perused the brick pathway in the heart of campus that bears their names and those of their classmates. There was an ice cream social with an inflatable obstacle course and life-sized foosball game; food trucks; a barbecue; a dinner cruise on Lake George; fireworks; and dancing.