Graduating seniors ‘are having to go through a grieving process’

This dorm room was hastily emptied as seniors rushed to move out the weekend of March 20.
Daffney Dawson/MCIR Journalism Lab

By Daffney Dawson
Student Correspondent

A Millsaps flag flutters and gleams in the sun.
Daffney Dawson/MCIR Journalism Lab

Seniors at Millsaps College, like millions of others across the country, were looking forward to walking across the stage in May to receive their long-awaited degrees. Instead, they are trapped in their homes, grieving the loss of the remainder of their senior year and living a nightmarish existence.

“I think it’s very upsetting because we worked so hard to get to this point and we could see the finish line. We were literally almost done and we don’t get to cross the finish line,” says Genesis Ranel, a history major at Millsaps, who lamented over not being able to participate in a graduation ceremony. “It’s almost like you lost something and are having to go through a grieving process.”

For Jacob Detiege, a political science major, graduation is a time of grand celebration in his family. It is one of the only times of the year when his entire family can get together and have a party to celebrate the achievements of the graduate.

“Definitely when all of this was first coming out, I was a lot more disappointed, but also it’s one of those things where you don’t have control and what happens is what happens. It’s unfortunate,” Detiege said.

Due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus, the president of Millsaps College, Rob Pearigen, informed students in an email on March 20 that the college would be closing its doors for the rest of the semester, leaving the 161 seniors who were expecting to graduate in May with many unanswered questions.

Millsaps’ Director of Communications and Marketing John Sewell said students will receive their degrees by mail as usual.

The college announced it will host a virtual commencement ceremony from the Bowl on May 9 at 9:30 a.m. CDT, adding: "The ceremony will be broadcast live on the college’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. We will announce and celebrate awards for the class, sing the alma mater and read the names of all graduating students from our undergraduate and graduate classes."

The sudden transition from in-class instruction to remote learning has been challenging for both professors and students. In the midst of learning new technologies and restructuring courses, Detiege says some professors seem to overcompensate for the loss of in-class instruction by overloading students with work, while others did not do enough to stimulate learning.

To assist students who might be struggling with the online transition, Millsaps officials gave students the option to forgo a letter grade in favor of class credit that would not affect their final grade point average.

“I think with the confusion and all, giving us the option of credit/no credit is probably the best thing they could have done academically to ensure that no one truly gets a loss from this,” Detiege said.

Ranel and Detiege’s sadness about not being able to complete their senior year on campus is compounded by their uncertainty about the future. They are also trying to cope with the fear and anxiety of their loved ones or themselves contracting the deadly virus, because they both have family members who are essential workers.

Detiege’s brother is a grocery store cashier, and his mother is a primary care physician. And, Ranel’s mother is a dentist.

Ranel said her mother and the rest of her family wear gloves and masks whenever they have to leave the house and they change clothes immediately when they get home as an extra precaution to ensure there is no risk of transmission for her brother who is immunocompromised.

People who are immunocompromised have weak immune systems and are “at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19,” the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Detiege said his family is handling being confined to a small space together relatively well. “I think we’re fine, or really no one has gone crazy just yet. I’ve reached the point where like I want to leave and I want to see people but I know that’s not going to happen,” he said.

Ranel, who comes from a big family, says her family is not doing as well and tensions are high all the time. “I think it’s because we’re all in the house, and we can’t go anywhere,” she said, adding that she has become the family “peacemaker,” which has compounded her stress and made it difficult for her to focus on her schoolwork.

“My biggest fear is that it's (the coronavirus) gonna keep spreading and we are going to be stuck in the house for a lot longer and the economy is gonna keep tanking,” Ranel said.  “I’m just finishing college, so it’s going to be difficult to find a job because of all of that.”

Pearigen said students who have suggestions for commencement can submit their ideas via email to info@millsaps.edu.

This story was produced by MCIR's Journalism Lab at Millsaps College, part of a public service project initiated by Report for American and the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting, nonprofit news organizations dedicated to community journalism and empowering Mississippians in their communities through the use of investigative journalism. MCIR Investigative Reporter and Report for America corps member Shirley L. Smith is the lab instructor.

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