Parent expresses COVID concerns over Georgia Southern indoor graduation
Katie Nussbaum
Nearly 300 Georgia Southern University (GS) graduates from the Armstrong Campus are set to walk across the stage at the Savannah Convention Center (SCC) on Sunday, but St. Simons Island resident Becky Lynch said her son won’t be in attendance.
Including students, guests, faculty and staff, there will be an estimated 1,552 attendees at the indoor graduation ceremony on Sunday and Lynch feels the event could be a super spreader of COVID-19.
The decision not to receive his diploma in-person was an "agonizing decision" for her son to make, she said, adding that while she, her husband and son had COVID this summer, her husband is high-risk and they couldn’t take another chance.
“That was a relief for me, but it’s still heartbreaking,” she said of her son’s decision not to walk.
The ceremony will be at 25% occupancy and seats on stage will be spaced at a minimum of six feet apart. Guests in the audience will be seated in pods of four, with a minimum of six feet between pods and between rows and masks will be required for the entire ceremony, entrance and exit of the building.
“We have had a few people reach out concerned about an in-person event, but overwhelmingly people are happy that we will have an in-person ceremony, versus virtual like we did last spring, and we are confident that the precautions we have put into practice will make it a safe and enjoyable ceremony for all,” said Scot Lingrell, Vice President for Enrollment Management for GS.
Lynch said holding the event inside two weeks after Thanksgiving, when people still chose to travel, is risky and questioned why the university didn’t opt to hold the ceremony outside on the Armstrong campus like the do at the Statesboro campus at Paulson Stadium.
According to the Coastal Health District (CHD), the Chatham County coronavirus case count increased by 98 to reach 11,038 on Monday. The county’s COVID-19 death toll remained at 204.
Statewide Georgia ranks sixth among the states for the number of COVID-19 cases, passing the 500,000 mark for confirmed and probable cases, according to an analysis of a database compiled by Johns Hopkins University researchers.
More:More: Georgia ranks sixth among states in COVID cases, passes half a million
The CHD didn't comment on the matter, but directed the Savannah Morning News to Gov. Brian Kemp's latest Executive Order, which was issued on Nov. 30 and provides guidelines for gatherings, conventions and other COVID-19 safety protocols.
Lingrell said there was no serious consideration of holding the Savannah ceremony outdoors on the Armstrong campus.
More:With COVID vaccines in sight, Chatham’s top doc urges patience with masks, distancing
“Prior to COVID-19 hitting, we already had a contract with the Savannah Convention Center, and the logistics of holding a ceremony anywhere else would have been overwhelming and costly. Once we figured out that we could hold the Savannah ceremony inside in a controlled and safe manner, then we made that commitment,” he said.
The university is allowing students the choice participating in the Savannah or the Statesboro ceremony. Some students that had their classes predominantly on the Savannah campus have selected to go to Statesboro – whether because of concerns over COVID-19 or simply because the time of the ceremony was more to their liking, and some from Statesboro selected the Savannah ceremony, Lingrell said.
Lynch said her husband reached out to the university with their concerns and her son was given this option, but because he spent the last four and a half years in Savannah, graduation in Statesboro felt meaningless.
“He had told me that as a freshman he couldn’t even imagine graduation, that that seemed so far off and so unattainable and then here we are and can’t celebrate it in a way he would have loved to."
Safety protocols
Since March the Convention Center has undergone aggressive sanitizing and cleaning regimens and also received Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC) STAR accreditation for cleaning, disinfection and infectious disease prevention over the summer.
According to GBAC, it is the industry’s only outbreak prevention, response and recovery accreditation and establishes requirements to assist facilities with work practices, protocols, procedures and systems to control risks associated with infectious agents.
More:Savannah Convention Center projected to lose $1M due to COVID-19
“We have medical grade disinfectant run through the air handlers. We also sanitize all chairs/tables/stages prior to each event also with medical grade disinfectant,” said SCC General Manager Sherrie Spinks.
Additionally, Lingrell said staff monitors will be on hand at all times to ensure social distancing in entrance lines, restrooms and other areas prone to gatherings of people.
“We will have hand sanitizer stations all over the entrance sections and in the exhibit hall where the ceremony will take place. We have added additional signage to direct people and to remind them of the social distancing and face covering requirements,” he said.
“Literally, every part of the planning included determining how to produce such a program and follow all (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and (Georgia Department of Public Health) guidelines.”
The event will also be live-streamed to the university's website and Facebook page on Sunday.
While Lynch won’t be at the ceremony on Sunday, she said her family will be making the best of the day and plan to take photos on the Armstrong campus with her son in his cap and gown.
“We’re going to make it a good day,” she said.