CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) graduates, friends and families will celebrate 2022 commencement in-person with four ceremonies spread out over the weekend of May 21-22 to allow for social distancing.

There will be a morning and an afternoon ceremony on Saturday and Sunday, with different academic programs scheduled for specific times and dates.

“These students have worked hard for this moment, and we are delighted to be able to offer them, their friends, and families a full in-person experience,” said Richard Yao, CSUCI president.

“The past three years have been filled with challenges that these students met with resilience and determination, and we could not be prouder of them,” he said. “This also gives our faculty, who have been equally resourceful, a chance to celebrate this day along with the graduates.

“I am honored to be the president of such a dynamic campus community.”

Yao was named president of CSUCI in January after serving as interim president for just over a year. His first commencement ceremony as interim president was a hybrid drive-up/in-person ceremony for the Class of 2021. The 2020 commencement ceremony was entirely virtual.

There will be other COVID-19 protocols as well, such as a limit of eight guests for each graduate, and all guests will be required to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test administered within 48 hours prior to arriving on campus.

Also, all 2,419 graduate and undergraduate students eligible to participate in the ceremony, as well as 142 eligible teaching credential students must pre-register themselves and their guests.

Registration for CSUCI’s Commencement 2022 is now open and eligible students should have received an email with instructions on how to register.

Before the pandemic, commencement took place at the Central Mall, but Rebecca Tung, director of university events, said this year, the ceremonies will be held at the South Quad because it is more spacious.

“Our biggest concern is of course, COVID, but we wanted to be able to give the students the festive, joyful celebration they’ve earned,” Tung said. “We can only hold 250 to 300 students at a time the way the Central Mall is configured, the South Quad will make it easier for the students and guests to physically distance.”

To participate in Commencement 2022, all students currently taking classes on campus  must be in compliance with the CSU Policy on vaccination and testing. CSUCI COVID-19 student webpage lists compliance details.

Each graduate will get two parking passes, which they can pick up at Grad Fest in the Grand Salon, March 9-10, or after Grad Fest at the campus Police Department in Placer Hall.

Check the commencement webpage for updates. Direct questions to 805-437-3100 or email commencement@csuci.edu.