Rosie 
Van 
Alsburg, 
an 

Engineering 
senior 
studying 

computer science and physics, is 

from Ann Arbor, Mich.

“I’m a transfer student so I started 

at WCC (Washtenaw Community 

College) first and then came here. I’ve 

been in college for five years.

Everything still feels fake, you 

know. I’m in a state of disbelief, like, 

‘Oh, it’s a joke. They’re going to put 

classes back in person and this is just 

a weird dream.’ But my friends are 

booking flights back to their home 

states and everything, so I know that 

it’s actually happening.

I’m the oldest grandkid on both 

sides, so I’m the first grandkid in my 

family to graduate. Both sides of my 

family were going to come in. I was 

really excited about that. I’ve just been 

in school for a very long time. This was 

supposed to be the celebration — that I 

didn’t suffer for five years for nothing.

My last year I failed a class. Six 

credits worth of class. EECS 482, 

it’s the operating systems class, it’s 

famously the hardest one in the 

department. And I failed it. I did 

really poorly, and I thought I was 

going to drop out and that was the 

end of it. It turns out, it’s okay, I came 

back from it. My GPA’s not perfect, 

but I’m still graduating. I meet all my 

requirements, and I’ve got a job lined 

up for May. So, I came back from that.”

Sydney Moore, an LSA senior 

studying Women’s Studies, is from 

Taylor, Mich.

“I am the first person in my 

family to graduate from college. And, 

obviously, we still get the degree and 

all that, but commencement and the 

graduations and celebrating with your 

friends and the department and the 

faculty you’ve built relationships with 

is something that has really motivated 

me. I hate to say that, that being here 

isn’t enough, but it’s not. 

All my family would come and 

watch me be the first to graduate. The 

hardest thing actually was calling my 

mom and telling my mom there is not 

going to be anything at all. Because 

when I called her on Wednesday when 

they canceled classes, the first and 

only thing she said to me was, ‘Please 

don’t tell me they’re going to cancel 

graduation.’ That’s all my parents have 

been waiting for, to see me graduate 

from U-M. 

I don’t want to cry, but it’s like 

— even finishing high school was 

something 
that 
felt 
impossible. 

Coming to U-M has felt — obviously 

there are things wrong with the 

institution, we all know that — but to 

come to this kind of university… this is 

not an institution that was built for me, 

the fact that I kept going even when I 

didn’t want to is like really the biggest 

thing.”

Alexandra 
Niforos, 
an 
LSA 

senior studying English, is from 

Grosse Pointe, Mich.

“I was on the phone with my friend 

who’s also a senior here and we were 

actually in the middle of canceling 

‘The Wiz’ for Musket … And then I 

got the Schlissel email, and I was like, 

‘Before we continue, commencement 

was canceled.’ We both were in shock 

… At first, I was like, ‘This might as 

well happen.’ But as soon as I was 

on the phone with my mom, I burst 

into tears and just felt overwhelming 

emotion.

I know it’s a formality but it still 

feels important — and the product 

of all your hard work is walking 

in graduation. I was thinking my 

grandparents are immigrants and 

education is so important to my 

family, I would have been their first 

granddaughter to graduate college, 

and they would have watched that 

happen. And now they don’t get that.

(I’d like) more answers about what’s 

next. I know when I read that email, I 

was so jarred that it was so minimized 

… They were like, ‘We’re looking for an 

alternative way to celebrate the class 

of 2020,’ and I said, ‘What does that 

mean?’ … It just felt like a formality 

and not like an actual solution. I 

understand why they’re doing what 

they’re doing, but for them to just leave 

us hanging with no answers, it added 

to the shock.”

Ryan Montgomery, a Business 

senior studying Human Resources 

and Music, is from Grand Haven, 

Mich.

“My older brother, he’s 31, he spent 

five years here at Michigan. So, I 

kind of grew up ever since fifth grade 

knowing I wanted to go to Michigan 

— it was the place I was going to be. I 

was going to join the Men’s Glee Club, 

I was going to graduate, I was going 

to do all this, and to have that ripped 

away, it’s really rough. It’s not a fun 

time for anybody. 

It’s been madness (being a Resident 

Adviser). Res staff in general has 

been doing a pretty good job of 

communicating. It’s been as smooth 

as it can be for these unprecedented 

times but there’s still some smaller 

aspects where it’d be nice to know that 

this is happening. What I love is the 

actual RA community, we’re really, 

really tight, so it’s been nice to have 

them to rely on. 

Being in the Men’s Glee Club is 

the reason I came to Michigan, more 

than academics, more than sports or 

anything like that. I needed to be in 

this choir. My freshman year I came 

in, joined the Glee Club, and we were 

performing this piece called ‘Seven 

Last Words of the Unarmed,’ which 

is about the last words of seven Black 

men who were shot by white police. 

And so that was a huge milestone 

for us. Supreme Court Justice Sonia 

Sotomayor reached out to us and said, 

‘Hey, I’d love to have the Glee Club 

come into my black-tie dinner party 

and perform for us.’ I was one of 20 

people chosen to fly out to D.C. and 

sing for that. That was magical. If 

there was one moment I had to boil it 

down to, it’d probably be that.

My brother got the chance to go 

on two international tours with Glee 

Club, they do them about every four 

years, so that was my big thing. I’d 

been saving up, I worked really hard 

for a Boy Scout Popcorn Scholarship, 

stuff like that, way back when I was 

young. I was always working my 

whole life to go on an international 

tour, and then to hear that our spring 

concert for this year and international 

tour for this year was canceled, it’s 

devastating. It’s an absolute bombshell 

to all the seniors and all the graduating 

folks who this was going to be their 

last time.”

Desi Dikova, an LSA senior 

studying 
Chemistry 
and 

Interdisciplinary Physics with a 

minor in Energy Science and Policy, 

is from Farmington Hills, Mich.

“Canceling commencement was 

absolutely in the best interests of 

protecting our most vulnerable. Of 

course, we can rationalize it all day 

long and still feel hurt. 

As a low-income, first-generation 

college 
student, 
attending, 
let 

alone graduating, college is a huge 

accomplishment. This meant so much 

to me and my family. I was most 

looking forward to Al Gore’s speech 

at commencement and participating 

in the Spectrum Center’s Lavender 

Graduation for LGBT+ students. I was 

also looking forward to SWAM club 

swim’s end-of-the-year formal and 

banquet. I’ve been with SWAM for 

the past four years. Not being able to 

say goodbye to my beloved teammates, 

the people who have meant the most 

to me, is the biggest disappointment. 

It’s jarring and shocking that none of 

it will happen. 

I’m most proud of myself for 

starting the Chemistry Inclusivity 

Initiative with the American Chemical 

Society club this year. We hosted guest 

faculty, ran a mentorship program 

and launched a podcast series about 

the intersection of social identities 

and the sciences. It’s been incredibly 

rewarding to develop diversity and 

inclusivity initiatives that I would’ve 

wanted when I was first starting 

college. What we leave behind is 

so much greater than any school-

wide, department or extracurricular 

ceremony can recognize.”

Vijita Kamath, a Business senior 

studying 
Math 
and 
Business 

Administration, is from Mumbai, 

India.

“I was extremely upset because I’m 

also in the process of immigrating, so 

I don’t get to go home. I’m essentially 

stuck in the U.S., and I thought I would 

see my dad for a conference which was 

happening next weekend, but that got 

canceled. And he’s like, ‘Oh well, never 

mind. I’ll come for commencement.’ 

And now that’s also gone, so I haven’t 

seen my family in two years, which 

makes me sad.

I was looking forward to seeing my 

family the most and since I’m a fifth-

year senior just finally being able to 

validate it and get it all done, because 

it’s been a long five years of college.

My sophomore year my mother 

passed away, and I was stuck in the 

same immigration dilemma then too, 

so being home was a really stressful 

time. One thing I was bummed about 

then was that my mother doesn’t get to 

see me graduate. And now it’s like both 

my parents don’t, and I’m the only 

child and an international student and 

first-gen so that was one thing that 

I was really sad about. But I’m also 

glad that I was able to overcome that, 

be able to graduate with two degrees 

instead of one, which makes me really 

proud and be involved with all the 

extracurriculars I do in my life.

A delayed date would be really 

helpful or just telling us how they’d 

accommodate us if we walked in the 

December commencement activities 

that happen for Fall 2020 grads. In 

terms of them telling us that they 

made accommodations so when we 

start our jobs, giving us a date so 

we can leave and walk and be back 

with our friends to celebrate, giving 

us travel accommodations would 

be really helpful. Or just an online 

address from professors, deans, even if 

we can’t congregate.”

Jackie Berger, an LSA senior 

studying Political Science, is from 

West Bloomfield, Mich.

“I was looking forward to hearing 

former Vice President Al Gore as our 

commencement speaker. My family 

has been insanely unlucky in terms of 

our commencement speakers. I have 

two older siblings that both graduated 

from the University of Michigan also. 

My older sister was part of the Class of 

2015. Their commencement speaker 

was originally NBC news anchor 

Brian 
Williams. 
The 
University, 

however, had to cancel him as speaker 

because Williams was caught in a 

scandal after making up a story while 

covering the war in Iraq. My older 

brother was part of the class of 2017, 

which as some of you may know 

was the year of the infamous video 

montage 
commencement 
speech. 

My brother refused to show up to his 

commencement ceremony, so none of 

us did as well. My family was looking 

(forward to) finally having a classic 

Big House commencement with a 

well-known speaker, only to have this 

commencement fall through on us as 

well. 

I was also looking forward to having 

my family all together for the first time 

in years. My parents are divorced and 

both of my siblings have since moved 

away to begin their professional lives 

in Chicago. Since my older brother 

was not at his commencement as I 

had mentioned, the last time that the 

five members of my family were all 

together at the same place at the same 

time was my high school graduation 

back in 2016. This May was going to be 

the first time that both my parents and 

both my siblings would all be together, 

but now I’m not sure what the future 

holds. 

This past semester, I have actually 

been away from Ann Arbor. I am 

finishing my UMich degree remotely 

from New York City with an amazing 

internship that I got at The Tonight 

Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. I 

was looking forward to flying in 

commencement weekend and seeing 

all of my friends in-person in Ann 

Arbor while we prepared to graduate. 

I was looking forward to catching up 

with them on everything that we’ve 

been up to this past semester while I 

was away.”

Hasan Ali, a Rackham student 

studying Electrical Engineering, is 

from Karachi, Pakistan.

“It was the biggest bummer that I’ve 

ever seen. Honestly, it had me down. 

One thing that I was really looking 

forward to this whole academic year 

was the graduation itself. That’s the 

capstone of your whole journey. And 

for me that was something that when 

coming to the U.S., before I started 

my master’s, was an achievement or 

dreamlike moment, when it’s like the 

gown and the cap, and the family’s 

going to be there and then you get 

to graduate. It’s just an all-around 

amazing feeling. It hit me like a bus, 

like, ‘Oh my God, I’m never going to be 

able to experience that.’

When 
you 
come 
from 
an 

international country, the work ethic 

and the way things are in the U.S. is 

quite different from what it was for 

me back home. Getting in tune with 

that for the first semester was a hassle. 

I could not tell what was happening, 

I was all over the place. Things and 

logistics and the way people treat 

you and the way you’re supposed to 

go about things is also very different. 

Grasping that and getting yourself in 

line with that and second semester 

onwards, actually enjoying that, was a 

big achievement I would say. It gives 

you a new experience and perspective 

and honestly that’s one thing I’ve 

really taken away from this masters.

I like to play sports a lot — all of 

that has stopped. I was playing two 

leagues in the recreational sports 

league, the IM league. Soccer’s my 

go-to thing. That was something I 

would look forward to week in week 

out, and right now that’s all stopped 

so … it’s a different lifestyle right now. 

For these moments to be taken 

away, it kind of feels like you’ve been 

cheated. But at the same time, I do 

understand that it was a need of the 

time. But at the same time, you’re like, 

‘Oh my God, why me?’”

Lillie Heyman, a Public Policy 

senior studying Women’s Equity 

Policy, is from Florham Park, N.J.

“I sobbed within seconds. It’s 

almost tragic, in the most dramatic 

way. Ceremonies are really important 

to me. I’m someone who has a hard 

time with change, so for me in a 

transitional period as momentous 

as finishing 16 years of school and 

finishing college at the University of 

Michigan, I wanted that ceremony. 

For its symbolism, for the sentimental 

aspect of it, and just for a second be 

proud of all the work we’ve been 

doing together. 

All of the different ‘lasts’ that you 

have in the last month of school — 

your last time hanging out with your 

friends, your last time going to certain 

places, your last time being in the 

Big House, hearing all your friends’ 

names being read. In Ford, there’s 

only 80 of us, so we’ve all gotten pretty 

close, and having a Ford graduation 

too, together, is really important. 

Closing everything out in a symbolic 

way is really important. It happened 

so abruptly, I didn’t get to have the 

different lasts that people talk about 

and that I wanted very dearly.

I’m heavily involved in Dance 

Marathon, and I was looking forward 

to my big achievement being this 

year’s VictorThon. Its in-person 

form got canceled unfortunately, 

so we’re doing some kind of virtual 

VictorThon instead, but I was really 

looking forward to that 24-hour event 

and playing a large role in it. So, that’s 

also something I have to grapple with 

and work through my emotions as 

well. 

It’s 
unfortunate, 
the 

circumstances, because you almost 

think that we don’t have a right to 

be upset about these things because 

people are getting really sick, people 

are dying, and it’s a really hard topic. 

And it seems almost selfish to be upset 

about something like this, but I think 

we have a right to feel our emotions, 

and it’s important that we feel these 

emotions and important that we talk 

about them and process them and not 

feel bad about feeling this way.”

Victoria Li, an LSA senior 

studying 
Economics, 
is 
from 

Canton, Mich.

“Oddly, I was shocked and not 

surprised at the same exact time. 

I remember being on the phone 

with a friend just 30 minutes prior 

to the official announcement of the 

cancellation of commencement. It 

honestly still feels surreal. My heart 

hurts, a lot. One moment I was a 

senior with a significant portion of 

my time in undergrad left. The next 

moment, the entire period between 

Spring Break and graduation was 

canceled, and I suddenly found myself 

having to say goodbye to some of the 

people who I’ve seen every day for the 

past few years.

Wednesday, March 18, 2020 — 3A
News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

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