UH Hilo geology department celebrates commencement with virtual party for grads, family & friends

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Four photos. 1) man and woman with caption: Will and Audria Dennen, UH Hilo 2020 Geology graduates, will head to Iceland this summer for graduate school. 2) Grid of students on Zoom with caption: The UH Huki Geology graduates of 2020 met remotely via Zoom, joined by profs, staff, and former grads. 3) Families with arms raised in joy with caption: Families of the graduates jpined the Zoom meeting and cheered at the accomplishments of the students. 4) Single female graduate with cap and caption: Dana Jennings, a graduating Natural Sciences major, wore her cap with tassel for the celebration.

By Staff/UH Hilo Stories.

Jené Michaud in outdoor setting.
Jené Michaud

In lieu of traditional commencement exercises thwarted by the coronavirus, the geology department at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo hosted a virtual graduation party that was attended by graduates and their families, current students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

“Each graduate got a rock hammer engraved with their name, symbolically presented,” writes Jené Michaud in an email. Michaud is professor and chair of the geology department. “The alumni turnout was really impressive.”

There were 57-plus attendees on the Zoom video conference platform, in some cases multiple people on one Zoom account.

“It was great to catch up with what the alumni were doing,” says Michaud.

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