{"id":3018,"date":"2021-06-03T14:29:26","date_gmt":"2021-06-03T14:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/?p=3018"},"modified":"2021-06-09T13:58:24","modified_gmt":"2021-06-09T13:58:24","slug":"spring-2021-commencement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/2021\/06\/03\/spring-2021-commencement\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring 2021 Commencement"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Ringing In a New Tradition<\/strong><\/h3>\n

On the crisp cool morning of May 7, this year’s spring graduates got the chance to celebrate the ending of a chapter with a new meaningful tradition. The 2021 seniors grabbed ahold of a purple cord and rang the university’s new 275-pound cast iron Commencement Bell – an honor only bestowed upon graduates – as a way to proclaim their achievement to the world. Read more about the Commencement Bell<\/a> and its very first ring<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Divider” _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default” collapsed=”off”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_divider color=”RGBA(0,0,0,0)” divider_weight=”6px” _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_divider][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_5,3_5″ admin_label=”Name Reading Ceremony” _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default” collapsed=”off”][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-4px||||false|false”]<\/p>\n

Name Reading Ceremonies<\/strong><\/h3>\n

With COVID restrictions slowly rolling back throughout spring, WSU was thankful to offer students a small resemblance of the traditional commencement celebrations they had imagined before the pandemic. On May 7 more than 400 graduates, separated into colleges and into two ceremonies, waited patiently for a moment they had dedicated time, mental energy, and determination toward.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/05\/NameReadingCeremonyFlipped.jpg” title_text=”NameReadingCeremonyFlipped” _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default” collapsed=”off”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”]With enthusiasm gleaming through their eyes, they switched their tassels and stood up to applaud their great achievement. Then each student walked across the stage, with their diploma in hand, as their name was read out loud. [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_divider color=”RGBA(0,0,0,0)” divider_weight=”6px” _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_divider][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_5,2_5″ _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_video src=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=AHj3y8qK2bs” _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_video][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n

Virtual Commencement<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Following the day’s events, WSU honored just under 1200 spring graduates during the evening’s Virtual Commencement Celebration. Congratulations Class of 2021! The celebration included speeches by President Scott Olson and Class of 2021 student speaker Michael Desch, along with music from the Winona State choir and band, as well as a commemorative video created for and by the Class of 2021 students. To check out some highlights beyond the virtual video, check out the yearbook<\/a> of “senior pictures” and quotes, and a message board<\/a> for family and friends.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_divider color=”RGBA(0,0,0,0)” divider_weight=”6px” _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_divider][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_5,3_5″ _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-4px||||false|false”]<\/p>\n

Graduate Feature Stories<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Pure academic talent, fierce determination, and a drive to make an impact, our Spring 2021 graduates are truly impressive. We\u2019ve rounded up six stories<\/a> of graduates with inspiring, hopeful, and empowering stories. We couldn’t be more excited to see what they accomplish next. [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/05\/DianaTapiaAlvarado.jpg” title_text=”DianaTapiaAlvarado” _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ringing In a New Tradition On the crisp cool morning of May 7, this year’s spring graduates got the chance to celebrate the ending of a chapter with a new meaningful tradition. The 2021 seniors grabbed ahold of a purple cord and rang the university’s new 275-pound cast iron Commencement Bell – an honor only […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":292,"featured_media":3072,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[878,943,967,978,880,56,714,688,671,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-news","category-blog-slider","category-campus-news","category-commencement","category-featured-post","category-features","category-homepage-slider","category-hp-feature-3","category-news-highlights","category-wsu-magazine"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/05\/BellRingingStudent.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7PQMT-MG","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/292"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3018"}],"version-history":[{"count":52,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3359,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3018\/revisions\/3359"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}