The Fall 2026 Commencement Ceremony has officially been canceled, Baldwin Wallace University announced last week.

Prospective fall graduates were notified in a Mar. 16 email, detailing those who are graduating in the fall are invited to walk instead in the May 2027 ceremony.

Dan Karp, vice president of marketing and communications, said the decision was based on two factors. One is the lower number of Fall 2026 graduates compared to previous years.

The number of potential Fall 2026 graduates is fewer than 200 people, with the usual number for a December commencement being approximately 300 graduates.

“There’s a certain threshold you get to where you then look at the overall cost of putting on a commencement,” Karp said of the second factor.

The costs for putting on a commencement are usually around $40,000, which includes rentals, printing programs, emergency medical and security services, president’s reception, baccalaureate service, and other costs, all in addition to the actual ceremony.

More than anything, Karp wants people to know that this was not an easy decision.

“We don’t take any of these decisions lightly,” he said. “We fully, fully recognize that this decision to pause the December commencement feels like something very important that we do is being taken away. We recognize the importance of a commencement ceremony for everybody.”

Karp characterizes this decision as a group effort.

“It involves lots of departments – Registrar’s Office, Provost’s Office, Building and Grounds, Dining Services. Think about all the elements of commencement; it involves a lot of people.”

This also includes an in-depth analysis with the financial department. It was ultimately voted on by the senior leadership team for the final decision. For the university, the costs couldn’t justify the smaller number of graduates and therefore decided to hold a combined graduation at the end of the school year.

He also notes that this is not the first time this happened in BW history. Fall Commencement has only occurred at BW for less than a decade. The university also held a combined commencement outside during COVID years to accommodate safety and health measures at the time.

Haley Snevel, a double major in biology and Spanish, is a prospective Fall 2026 graduate. She was not happy when she heard the news.

“(The) majority of the people who are graduating in Fall 2026 are graduating a semester early,” she said. “We worked so hard to meet that deadline and get all of our classes done while still doing our extracurriculars, and they just took it away.”

Snevel expressed concern for those who have been looking forward to this winter’s ceremony.

“A lot of students have put in insurmountable amounts of work, had 18-credit semesters their whole time here, all just for this one singular specific moment,” she said. “That’s all anyone wants to do, is walk the stage at graduation.”

Aleka Kasson, a studio art major and psych minor, was also expecting to walk the stage this coming December. “It makes me feel very disappointed and honestly upset with the university,” she said.

Kasson is also no stranger to cuts made by the university.

“Being a studio art major, my major was already cut, so I’m not getting the opportunity to do the classes I was already told that I’d be able to do, then on top of that they cut out my graduation ceremony as well,” she said.

Snevel wishes they thought more about the students than the budget.

“We should not be paying you to take away things that matter to us,” she said.

Additionally, she wished they considered students’ families. Haley’s family had already been planning, as she has already contacted those she loves out-of-state with the original commencement date she found on the BW website.

“I wish they considered all the hard work and effort that all the graduating students have put into graduating this semester,” Kasson says. “Even though it’s not a typical spring graduation, that just means we’re graduating early, or putting in a lot of work to get here and then want to be rewarded for that work.”

This makes Snevel not want to walk at all.

“I want that separation from college. I am supposed to be done in December, I want to be done in December,” she said.

While Kasson is still planning on walking so she gets the experience she was promised, she thinks this won’t be the case for everyone.

“I think a lot of people will be in jobs and have something else right out of college,” she said. “Even if they wanted to, coming back might not be an option.”

Several departmental celebrations, such as the nursing department’s pinning ceremony, will continue as planned. Baldwin Wallace will also send gift packages to the graduates containing items such as BW memorabilia, a diploma case and an invitation to walk in the May 2027 commencement ceremony.

“Commencement matters a lot to any college experience,” Karp stated. “This decision reflects the operational realities and doesn’t change our commitment to honoring your achievements in meaningful ways, we just want to do it differently.”

He said the university still wants to make December grads feel honored: “I really am open to ideas on how we can make it better for the December graduates – if there is something I’m not thinking of other than putting on a full commencement ceremony,”

He also said he is impressed by every concern that has been raised and said each thoughtful email shows how great the students at BW are. He said the university plans on taking feedback from this decision to help the university improve.

Despite these efforts to remedy student disappointment, frustration continues among Fall 2026 graduates.

“So many things are being cut to make my college experience less than ideal throughout my whole three years here,” Snevel said. “The fact that my one thing that I knew was going to be great was my graduation and it’s not happening is so frustrating…”

Fall 2026 graduates will receive their diplomas in late January or early February, and are encouraged to walk in May of 2027, the university said.