For most of the Spring 2021 

graduating class, it has been 
over a year since entering the 
Big House for a football game 
or anything else — other than 
maybe to receive a vaccine. On 
Saturday, May 1, however, the 
University 
of 
Michigan 
gave 

graduates 
the 
opportunity 
to 

spend the last moments of their 
college 
career 
watching 
the 

virtual commencement ceremony 
with their peers inside Michigan 
Stadium at noon.

The University said it required 

students who opted-in to the 
in-person 
commencement 

viewing to be adequately masked 
and socially distant, restrictions 
that were essentially not enforced 
once students entered the stands 
Saturday. Graduates also had to 
have 
a 
verified 
ResponsiBLUE 

screening 
and 
testing 
result, 

which, for students who have 
not tested positive for COVID-
19 in the last 90 days, includes 
receiving a COVID-19 test at a 
University testing location. 

Students who did not feel 

comfortable 
attending 
the 

in-person event or who wanted 
to watch the commencement 
ceremony with family and friends 
had the option of attending 

virtually. The recorded ceremony 
remains available for viewing.

Despite 
another 
pandemic 

graduation celebrated with new, 
socially 
distanced 
traditions 

— including a massive mural 
on E. Washington St. — several 
graduates and parents were upset 
by the lack of a more conventional 
commencement experience.

Following 
the 
University’s 

initial 
announcement 
in 

February 
indicating 
Spring 

Commencement would be virtual, 
a group of students and parents 
stood in front of the Michigan 
Union in early March to protest 
for what they envisioned could be 
a safe, in-person event.

Along 
with 
the 
protest, 
a 

student-curated 
petition 
with 

over 5,000 signatures urged the 
University to offer an optional 
in-person graduation ceremony. 
The petition claimed that the 
Big 
House’s 
seating 
capacity 

of 107,601 people would allow 
for all interested graduates to 
participate, 
even 
with 
social 

distancing protocols.

When 
U-M 
first 
indicated 

that commencement would be 
virtual, the state’s limitation was 
250 people for outdoor events. 
By 
contrast, 
when 
the 
plans 

for a hybrid graduation were 
announced over a month later, 
the state of Michigan’s restrictions 
held capacity at outdoor events to 

1,000 people if all attendees were 
six feet apart and wearing masks.

In light of the controversy 

surrounding the virtual graduation 
format, University President Mark 
Schlissel announced the May 1 
opt-in commencement celebration 
at the Big House at the Board of 
Regents’ meeting on March 25.

LSA graduate Justin Pollack, 

who attended the celebration, 
expressed frustration with the 
hybrid format but also said he 
understood 
the 
University’s 

decision 
to 
hold 
graduation 

virtually. 

“It’s 
the 
closest 
thing 

that I could get to in-person 
graduation,” Pollack said. “The 
situation 
in 
Michigan 
three 

weeks ago wouldn’t have looked 
good for an in-person graduation, 
and if you did change (the 
graduation format) then I guess 
there would have been a lot of 
logistical difficulties. So, I get it. 
It’s disappointing, but like, I’m 
glad that we have something.”

As 
student 
body 
president 

Amanda 
Kaplan 
introduced 

Schlissel to the crowd, he was met 
with a litany of boos. Despite the 
jeers, Schlissel congratulated the 
class of 2021, citing their resilience 
and 
optimism 
throughout 
an 

unprecedented year.

Thursday, May 6, 2021

INDEX

Vol. CXXIX, No. 112
 © 2020 The Michigan Daily 
NEWS ....................................
OPINION ............................... 
ARTS.......................................
SPORTS..................................

SPORTS
NFL Wolverines
Michigan’s recent NFL 
Draft success continues 
with eight players 

selected 
 

 
 >> SEE PAGE 8

NEWS
R.I.P. Reggie Bee

Campus community 

remembers remarkable life 

of beloved campus corgi

>> SEE PAGE 2

OPINION
Afghanistan Exit

Democracy cannot be 

built on the back of foreign 

intervention

 
 >> SEE PAGE 5

ARTS
Academy Awards 

The Daily’s Arts writers went 

behind the scenes of the 

Oscars for the first time — on 

Zoom 

 >> SEE PAGE 6

SPORTS
LAX History
Men’s lacrosse team 
upsets Ohio State en 
route to first ever Big Ten 

Tournament seminfinal 
 

>> SEE PAGE 9

inside

2
4
6
8

2021 grads celebrate commencement in 

the Big House

ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

RONI KANE AND SHANNON STOCKING

Summer News Editor & Managing News Editor

michigandaily.com

Pioneer 

High School 
investigated 

for racial 
hostility

On Feb. 22, six Ann Arbor 

City 
Council 
members 
and 

Mayor 
Christopher 
Taylor 
sent 

a letter to Ann Arbor Public 
Schools, advocating for a return 
to 
in-person 
classes. 
Though 

the letter could be perceived 
as 
unconventional, 
as 
school 

decisions beyond the allocation 
of funding are usually considered 
outside the council’s jurisdiction, 
the council members and mayor 
wrote 
that 
they 
were 
simply 

responding to their constituents’ 
needs. Specifically, the letter cited 
“BIPOC 
communities” 
suffering 

an “unjust disparity in loss” during 
the pandemic.

When local Black Lives Matter 

activist and founder of Survivors 
Speak Trische’ Duckworth read the 
letter, she questioned that claim. 
Where 
were 
councilmembers, 

she wondered, when dozens of 
community members came out 
to demonstrate against alleged 
racism at Ann Arbor Pioneer High 
School (AAPS) — when Black 
parents told them they needed 
their support?

“At a time where they were 

needed 
most 
in 
the 
district, 

when … there was so much racial 
unrest within the district against 
students, they would not step in,” 
Duckworth 
told 
The 
Michigan 

Daily in February.

Read more at michigandaily.com
Read more at michigandaily.com

JULIANNA MORANO

Daily Staff Reporter

 EMMA MATI/Daily

Graduates from the class of 2021 gather in-pperson to view the virtual commnecmement ceremonies at the Big 
House Saturday afternoon.

 BECCA MAHON/Daily

Ann Arbor Public Schools opened 
an investigation into alleged racial 
discimination at Pioneer High School, 

