Commencement

There will be an Open House at the Seminary from 9 am to noon on Friday, May 20. The Chapel service will start at 10 am in the Chapel. (It will be livestreamed: https://www.calvinseminary.edu/chapel-townhall-livestream)

The 2022 Calvin Seminary graduation ceremony will take place on Saturday, May 21, 2022 at 10:30 am in Covenant Fine Arts Center Auditorium on Calvin University's campus. Doors open at 10 am. A reception will follow at the Seminary. **All graduates will need to attend the rehearsal that starts at 9 am in the CFAC Auditorium.

As we plan for Commencement Weekend on May 21-22, 2022, we are sharing this guidance regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Kent County, Michigan, has continued to show relatively low COVID-19 positivity rates. We have had a few reported cases of COVID-19 in our community recently. There is no cause for alarm; but we encourage all our community members to be attentive to symptoms and exposure, and to quarantine when exposed or isolate when testing positive for COVID-19. The CDC has provided a simple online calculator for quarantine and isolation for those who have been exposed or who have had a positive test. We encourage you to use this calculator when needed for you and your family members. Our COVID response protocols for Commencement weekend include this guidance: Masks are optional when in public or open spaces around Calvin Seminary and in the Seminary building and the Covenant Fine Arts Center (CFAC). We support any student, staff, or faculty, as well as family members and gests, who choose to wear masks. For those who would like masks, including KN-95 masks, they are available in the President’s Office and the Student Life Office. Please note that we continue to encourage hand washing, social distancing, and other good health practices. We also ask that if you feel unwell, please stay home. Graduates, faculty and staff, if you have any symptoms, please fill out our COVID reporting form. If you have questions about your situation, please contact one of the COVID-19 Response Team Co-Chairs, Margaret Mwenda or Jeff Sajdak. The guidance from the MDHHS and the CDC, along with the relatively low case numbers in West Michigan, our high vaccination rates, and the availability of good masks, gives us confidence to maintain the guideline of not requiring masks but rather leaving it to individuals to select whether or not to wear a mask. Please know that we will continue to carefully look at data from West Michigan, Kent County, and our campus, as well as recommendations from the CDC, the MDHHS, and the Kent County Health Department (KCHD), to determine if any spikes or spread would indicate changing our policy. We now thank you for following these guidelines, including respecting those who choose to wear masks and those who do not, as we celebrate together on Commencement Weekend. Thank you for your diligence in using these guidelines for your safety and that of the entire community of CTS. Sincerely, The Calvin Seminary COVID-19 Response Team Margaret Mwenda and Jeff Sajdak, Co-Chairs

Regalia pickup will be Friday, 5/20 from 9-12 (at the Seminary, exact location TBD), and on 5/21 before the ceremony (at the CFAC).

The livestream can be found on both of these pages: Calvin.edu/go/live or youtube.com/calvinuniversity

Tickets are not required. Please do not bring strollers into the CFAC. There isn't a secure place to store them and they block the walkway.

Details are emailed to graduates, so if you are a graduate: check your email, including the spam folder! If you are not a graduate, you can email semacademics@calvinseminary.edu with questions.