Announcement from the Office of President Nesbary:

With COVID-19 cases continuing to restrict large interior gatherings, Muskegon Community College has decided to replicate last year’s popular and interactive

drive-through ceremony on campus when MCC celebrates its 2022 Commencement rain or shine on May 4.

While our hope was to return to a traditional Commencement ceremony this year, our priority remains the safety of our students and their families.

The response to the 2021 Drive-Through Commencement was overwhelmingly positive. Our graduates told us how much they appreciated the activities, the warm reception from our faculty, the encouragement from staff and volunteers at every stop, and ultimately the opportunity to walk across the stage. The fact that graduates had family members riding with them to share the experience and that it took place on the MCC campus made it even more special.

The Commencement organizers are still finalizing this year’s details. The event will tentatively begin at 5 p.m. The procession of graduates in their vehicles will begin in the Stevenson Center parking lot, where graduates will have photo opportunities with Jay, the MCC mascot, and receive commemorative gifts.

The vehicles will depart from the North Lot onto Quarterline Road and re-enter the campus at the South Lot. There, the caravan will slowly pass by cheering MCC faculty, who will flank the vehicles and applaud their former students entering the next chapter of their lives.

When each vehicle approaches the MCC main campus building’s entrance area, the graduates will exit and walk toward the Commencement stage erected in the parking lot. Photography, live streaming, and videotaping will capture the moment for posterity for the graduates.

On hand to hear every graduate’s name being read aloud will be members of the Muskegon Community College Board of Trustees and the MCC administration, donned in their formal regalia. Commencement will also include opening remarks by me. This will be my 13th and final MCC graduation before my retirement this summer.

The graduates will descend from the stage, return to their vehicles, and exit at the main entrance onto Marquette Avenue.

For more information on the 2022 Commencement, please contact [email protected] or visit https://www.muskegoncc.edu/commencement.