While graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison is an achievement worthy of celebration, for students whose graduation occurred in 2020, one pretty important aspect was missing: the opportunity to actually attend their celebration here on campus.
For the class of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic meant an abrupt transition to remote learning and quickly adapting to change.
The new status quo became going with the flow—and in many cases, that meant taking part in the university’s virtual commencement, from home.
On Sept. 18, 2021—nearly 16 months after their remote graduation—thousands of members of the class of 2020 returned to campus for an in-person event at Camp Randall Stadium, as well those hosted by schools and colleges across UW-Madison.
More than 300 College of Engineering graduates and their guests attended a tailgate ahead of the Camp Randall event. It was a festive and long-awaited opportunity for them to capture campus graduation photos, catch up with their fellow grads, hang out with their favorite badger (the big red-and-white one), chat with Dean Ian Robertson and other engineering faculty—and to finally experience their UW-Madison graduation on a gorgeous early-fall Saturday.
Cheers to the class of 2020! We were so excited to congratulate you in person! Here are some scenes from the College of Engineering celebration. We think the smiles say it all.