On Saturday, May 18, nearly 820 undergraduates marched across the stage at the Elmhurst University Mall to receive their diplomas. The cicadas were kind enough to stay away and not interfere with the solemnity of the day.
The occasion was particularly significant to the students who had graduated from high school in 2020 when COVID-19 forced the shutdown of traditional graduation ceremonies. Although many schools found innovative ways to honor the graduates, the events did not measure up to the joy of sharing that milestone occasion with fellow graduates, teachers, relatives, and friends.
Sarah Glees graduated from Dundee-Crown High School in Carpentersville where they had what they called a drive-through graduation.
“We pulled up in our cars and we would get a notification of when it was time for us to line up,” Glees recalled. “We had to put on our masks and were all spaced out. They set your diploma down and you picked it up. Instead of clapping everyone was honking their horns.”
There was a program but graduates and the others in their car listened to it on a radio station.
College graduation was an entirely different experience, Glees related. “It was very much a traditional graduation,” she said. “We had caps and gowns. It was much more a communal atmosphere. We were sitting with all these people we had been to school with all these years. You got to be with one another and your family and friends were all sitting behind us. When they were speaking it felt like all the speakers were talking to you versus when you’re sitting in a car. It was really, really a great graduation.”
Glees, who earned a degree in digital media at Elmhurst, is planning a career in news or film and television producing.
Kelly Gregory graduated from James B. Conant High School in Hoffman Estates.
“I was really fortunate enough to go to a high school like Conant, that tried to make the best of the situation,” Gregory said. “They hosted a parade-style event where students were able to drive in their cars around Boomers Stadium in Schaumburg. They also had a virtual ceremony that had recordings of our classmates speaking and they put a slideshow together of all the students.”
The graduates received their diplomas by mail.
Graduation from Elmhurst University “was really, really special,” Gregory declared. “That was something I was able to do with my fellow classmates and we were able to celebrate this accomplishment together. Overall the graduation felt more real, being able to walk across the stage and have my family and friends cheer me on.”
Gregory earned a degree in communications and plans to pursue a career in human resources as a benefits and payroll specialist.
Rachel Fratt graduated from Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas.
Fratt noted that they postponed graduation thinking that they would be able to hold it later. “The end of June, when they realized that things were not going to get better, they held sort of a ceremony,” Fratt said. “One family at a time could come into the gym and have this huge walk on an empty stage and their parents could take pictures. And then we had to leave.”
Fratt reported that it was really hot at the Elmhurst University graduation — she was wearing a long dress and her graduation robe, but it was still a very special occasion for her.
“It was the first real graduation I’ve had,” Fratt said. “Walking across the stage, the only thing I was thinking was not to trip.”
Because Fratt was the first grandchild in her family to graduate, 12 family members came to celebrate with her from Las Vegas, California, Arizona, and Idaho.
Fratt earned a bachelor of fine arts in art business with a minor in art history. “I’m going to get my master’s in art market in Lisbon, Portugal,” she said. “I always knew that I really loved art. I just can’t handle critiques so I knew I didn’t want to be an artist but I knew I wanted to be in that world.”
Ambrozia Itellari graduated from William Fremd High School in Palatine.
“We had our graduation over Zoom because of the COVID pandemic,” Itellari said. “Overall, it was a hard year. My grandfather passed away a month before my graduation.”
Itellari reported that she received several scholarships but, also because of the pandemic, there were no ceremonies to honor those achievements.
“Coming to my graduation this year, I couldn’t believe that I was actually going to have a physical graduation,” she said. “It was nice to have that in-person experience. I went across the stage and shook hands with President Troy. It was a really nice feeling to get that moment to walk across stage and have everyone clap for you.”
Itellari graduated summa cum laude and was an Honors Program Scholar.
After the ceremony, Itellari said, she took photos with all of her professors and said goodbye to them.
Itellari majored in biology with minors in chemistry, business administration, and medical humanities. In the fall, Itellari will attend Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Florida.
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
