Less pomp, given circumstance: Students grapple with virtual graduations

In the days leading up to graduation, Elon University in North Carolina is unusually quiet. While some students trickle back onto campus to take photos in maroon graduation robes, most have gone home. Seniors will not gather under the historic oak grove for a farewell picnic with faculty and staff, and on graduation day, no one will walk across the stage in the new Schar Center to accept a diploma. 

Instead, the long-awaited recognition of achievement will arrive as an email following a livestreamed conferral ceremony on May 22. 

Kendall Hiti plans to watch the event with her friends on Zoom. Then, when the lease on her off-campus apartment is up, she’ll start the 44-hour road trip home to San Francisco. “It’s really not what I expected out of all

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