CANTON -- After an entire year of uncertainty, SUNY Canton President Zvi Szafran announced that SUNY Canton will hold a series of graduate-only in-person commencement ceremonies celebrating the classes of 2020 and 2021.

“COVID-19 case numbers on campus determined by weekly testing and the prevalence of vaccinations have encouraged cautious optimism,” a press release from the college said.

"We believe it will be safe to hold smaller in-person gatherings in May to recognize our students' accomplishments," Szafran said. "We will make the necessary arrangements to protect people's safety by limiting the size of the event and enforcing social distancing. Unfortunately, we won't be able to host guests. We encourage family, friends and alumni to watch the live streams on social media."

The first ceremony will be held to celebrate the class of 2020 at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 8, in Roos House Convocation Athletic and Recreation Center. The event is exclusively for graduates only but will be live streamed for others to watch. The college was forced to postpone its 2020 ceremony due to COVID-19.

Graduates of the class of 2021 will be invited to participate by their academic schools at designated times Saturday, May 15, in the Roos House:

The Canino School of Engineering Technology ceremony will be held at 9 a.m.

The School of Business and Liberal Arts ceremony will be held at 12:30 p.m.

The School of Science, Health, and Criminal Justice ceremony will be held at 4 p.m.

All in-person event planning and safety protocols are subject to change based on updated federal, state and local public health guidelines. All students and faculty attending these ceremonies will be expected to show vaccination records or negative COVID test results before attending the event.

Additionally, the college is planning virtual ceremonies for both graduating classes. Times, dates and details will be available in the future.