A policy change regarding which commencement ceremony secondary education majors must participate in has been reversed.
Secondary education majors will now be able to choose between walking with the College of Arts and Sciences May 13 at 9 a.m. or the School of Education and Human Development May 13 at 2 p.m.
The students had previously been assigned to the SEHD ceremony.
Peter Norberg, Ph.D., senior associate provost for academic and faculty support, confirmed all students have been given the option to choose which ceremony they want to attend.
“The institution is committed to giving students the best experience possible,” Norberg said.
Norberg credited the change to one secondary education major, who he said advocated for herself when she learned last week during an offhand conversation with a CAS faculty member that secondary education majors would not be able to participate in the CAS ceremony. The student declined to speak on the record to The Hawk.
Jason Mezey, Ph.D., professor and chair of English, writing and journalism, has been advising English secondary education majors since he was hired in 2003. Mezey said while English secondary education majors gain a lot from their education courses, they have primarily identified as English majors.
Mezey also learned that English secondary education majors would not be attending the CAS ceremony from secondhand sources last week, not from any official communication from the university.
“I was surprised to learn that that sense of academic identity wasn’t necessarily being followed in determining which ceremony people graduate during,” Mezey said.
Melissa Chakars, Ph.D., professor and chair of history, said history secondary education majors told her April 19 that they were participating in the SEHD ceremony instead of CAS. Chakars described the students’ reaction as “disappointed.”
“My concern is that this decision was made without any conversation with those who run history secondary education programs, like the department of history,” Chakars said.
Kathryn Wert ’27, an English secondary education major, said she would be content walking in either ceremony because she feels a connection to both aspects of her major. Other students, she acknowledged, might feel differently.
“I think a lot of it just comes down to the individual student with what preference they would have,” Wert said. “I do feel like it’s the type of thing where some students happen to connect better with their content area major more than the School of Education, some students connect better with School of Education rather than their content area.”
Norberg said the decisions about which majors and schools are combined for commencement is made by a commencement committee, which then forwards recommendations to St. Joe’s President Cheryl McConnell, Ph.D. Norberg said a significant factor the committee considers is not exceeding Hagan Arena’s capacity amid the university’s increased enrollment.
A total of seven secondary education majors will graduate this year, according to data from the Office of Enrollment Management.
Norberg said secondary education majors have walked with SEHD since 2024, when the university began holding multiple graduation ceremonies. At that time, however, CAS and SEHD participated in a combined ceremony. This year marks the first in which CAS and SEHD will hold separate ceremonies.
Going forward, Norberg said all students will graduate with their primary major, meaning secondary education majors will walk with CAS during commencement.
Grace O’Meara ’27 contributed to this story.
Correction: The School of Education and Human Development’s commencement ceremony was at 2 p.m. May 13.
