The University of Montevallo is postponing its fall commencement ceremony, according to an email from UM’s president, Dr. John Stewart.

The email cites growing concern about “the rapidly increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Alabama and throughout the nation” as the cause of the postponement.

The health and safety of our UM family and guests are our highest priorities.

Dr. John W. Stewart, UM President

The ceremony, which was scheduled to be held on Dec. 12, had already been impacted by the pandemic. Fall commencement is traditionally held in the Student Activity Center, but university officials decided to move the ceremony to the Flowerhill lawn to allow for social distancing.

“Although this news is disappointing,” Dr. Stewart wrote of the postponement, “we will have the comfort of knowing that you and your family are safer having not traveled and risked additional exposure.”

This marks the second commencement ceremony that UM has postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. May’s graduation was originally rescheduled for Aug. 7, but was then later postponed indefinitely.

According to the letter from Dr. Stewart, the university plans to hold a traditional, in-person graduation ceremony for all spring and fall 2020 graduates “once the virus has abated and it is safe to gather in large numbers.”