“We have been proud of you long before today and long before your commencement, and so should you. We know that you will do well, and we hope that you will do good. There is nothing more important to faculty and staff [than] to hear that we did something that made a difference in your life, because that is why we’re all here.”

These were just some words of wisdom imparted to Pace’s graduating class of 2020 at a virtual town call hosted specifically for them on Thursday, May 7. The town call was co-led by university President Marvin Krislov, university Provost Vanya Quinones, assistant Vice President for undergraduate education Susan Maxam, Executive Director of Career Services Phyllis Mooney, the assistant dean for Student Affairs at the New York City Campus Todd Smith-Bergollo and the assistant dean for Student Affairs at the Pleasantville campus Rachel Carpenter.

During the town call, attendees could post questions within the chat box that could be seen only by the mediators and the majority of the town call consisted of them addressing as many questions as they could within an hour. Since this was a town call for seniors only, a lot of the questions and concerns that were addressed had to do with the Spring 2020 commencement and what that will look like. However, other topics and areas were also addressed, from whether or not students can reverse the pass/fail options for their final grades to how students know whether or not they qualify for CARES funding to everything in between.

During the town call, students were informed about the Spring 2020 virtual commencement ceremony, which will be school and college-specific and will take place from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. (approximately) on Wednesday, May 20.

“We’re going to make this as festive as possible, as festive as a virtual ceremony could be,” Maxam said. “[The ceremony will feature] . . . senators Schumer and Harkham, student speakers, student singers, [students’] names will be scrolling . . . we are celebrating you both virtually and in-person, once the pause is lifted.”

Students were also told that, since the pass/fail option has been extended to May 26 (10 days after the end of the semester), they have until that time to select or reverse that option if they wish. After the 26, the grades—whether they be pass/fail or a letter grade—are final.

Krislov informed students that students need to be eligible for Title IV funding and financial aid in order to qualify to receive CARES funding and that there will be two rounds of CARES funding that will be going out to students and their families.

“The first round of funds we have already allocated and every student who is Title IV eligible gets a set amount and the second round will go to students for financial aid who are going to be here this fall,” Krislov said.

If students have any additional questions for Krislov or any of the other mediators for the meeting, they can email them at their respective emails.