Growing up interested in architecture, Katarina Antal chose Ball State because she knew it had a good program and offered her what she wanted. As a senior landscape architecture major, she knew she would be spending five years at Ball State because of the common curriculum program in the College of Architecture and Planning (CAP).
Antal experienced college before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. She had a variety of class structures, both in-person and online.
“[It] was definitely hard getting used to watching our teachers learn how to teach online,” Antal said, “but it’s now going back to everything being in-person. It’s been nice to meet with people face to face and have [an] in-person learning experience.”
Ro-Anne Royer Engle, vice president of student affairs, said Ball State’s leadership has been guided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and spring 2022 commencement ceremonies will take place without any COVID-19 protocols.
While masks weren’t required for vaccinated students, faculty and guests during summer 2021 commencement ceremonies, spring 2022 commencement won’t require masks for anyone, according to updated university guidelines in place since March 4. Students are also free to invite as many guests as they want, contrary to a year ago in which each spring 2021 graduate participating in commencement was limited to four guests who were socially distanced in Scheumann Stadium’s bleachers.
Commencement ceremony schedule
- 10 a.m. – Main Ceremony in the Quad
- 12:30 PM – Miller College of Business and College of Communication, Information and Media at Worthen Arena
- 3:30 PM – College of Fine Arts and College of Sciences and Humanities at Worthen Arena
- 6:30 PM – R. Wayne Estopinal College of Architecture and Planning; College of Health; and Teachers College at Worthen Arena
Source: Ball State commencement web page
Antal said she is inviting her parents and her boyfriend’s parents to commencement and is not too worried about anyone contracting COVID-19 because everyone she is inviting is vaccinated. She said she is excited to show her family and friends around Muncie, the place she’s called home for the past five years.
“I'm looking forward to enjoying good food with them and showing them some of the work I've done throughout college,” Antal said.
Antal said she’s had a lot of fun experiences at Ball State, with some of her favorites including the friends she made in CAP.
“There's a lot of excitement and energy on campus once the weather starts to get nice in spring, and I loved hanging out outdoors with my friends, hammocking, having picnics or throwing a frisbee around,” she said.
While she had fun during college, Antal said she’s excited not to have homework and have more time to pursue personal hobbies and career-related activities. She has an upcoming summer internship at Minnetrista, and after that, she said, she’s hoping to get a full-time job, possibly in Colorado.
In 2020, all commencement ceremonies were canceled, but all 2020 graduates were invited to the in-person commencement ceremonies in spring 2021. During summer 2021 commencement, graduates who were fully vaccinated were not required to wear masks, but people who were not fully vaccinated had to wear masks.
During fall 2021 commencement, students were free to invite as many guests as they wanted, but everyone, regardless of their vaccination status, had to wear masks inside Worthen Arena consistent with university guidelines.
Spring 2022 commencement will be held Saturday, May 7. Angel Tuttle, assistant director of commencement and university events, said approximately 2,500 graduates are registered to attend the commencement ceremonies.
The main ceremony will be held in the Quad at 10 a.m., and all ceremonies will be livestreamed on the Spring Commencement website.
Contact Krystiana Brosher with comments at krystiana.brosher@bsu.edu or on Twitter @Krystiana_21.
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