Make Up Commencement

For the sixth time this fall, Dr. Breanna Naegeli addressed graduates at the makeup Commencement ceremony Monday. The Honors College Associate Dean’s message about the resilience and tenacity of the graduating classes of 2020 and 2021 has special meaning because she is one of them. “When you’re physically there at Commencement and in that moment, it brings back all the memories of the relentless efforts, the long nights, the endless hours and sleepless nights trying to balance it all,” she said.

Ever since Linda Jessie and her daughter Brittainy Shirley started their respective graduate programs at GCU, they knew they wanted to sit together at graduation. After over a year of waiting, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the pair finally made it happen at this week’s Make Up commencement ceremony. “My mom’s amazing, she’s like my best friend and has had a huge impact on me being where I am today,” Shirley said. “It’s been really cool to say that I’ve been going to school with my mom and not just go to school with my mom, but be able to celebrate that accomplishment together.”

The second of seven makeup Commencement ceremonies Monday proved once again that graduates will travel long distances to celebrate earning their degree. “I just felt that desire to walk across the stage,” said Anthony Jackson Jr., who came all the way from New Orleans. “I wanted to feel that same intensity that the locals feel. I just had to do it.”

When Desiree Ortiz put her education on hold 16 years ago, all she could think about was caring for her daughter, who was born with heart disease. Now, Ortiz finds herself in a position that she never imagined she’d actually be in — celebrating her graduation from her undergraduate sociology program. Ortiz is one of thousands of graduates returning to campus in the coming months to participate in makeup in-person Commencement ceremonies.