By By Maggie Cassidy, News Staff
In a packed house at TD Banknorth Garden yesterday, Northeastern’s 107th Commencement ceremony was a day of giving and receiving:’ Three people received honorary degrees, keynote speaker Kenneth Cole received a standing ovation, and nearly 3,000 graduates received diplomas after years of hard work at the university.
One thing each graduate didn’t receive, though, was a handshake. In response to the national outbreak of the H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu, university officials decided Thursday afternoon to send an e-mail to graduates asking them to forgo the traditional handshake upon accepting diplomas.
The e-mail also said there would be hand sanitizer available at the ceremony and requested students exhibiting flu-like symptoms to not attend the ceremony.
As of noontime Saturday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website had reported eight confirmed cases of swine flu in Massachusetts. None have been reported in Boston.
While some students said they didn’t mind keeping their hands to themselves, others said they thought the move was ‘silly,’ and the decision made national headlines. In response to the no-shake policy, Cole, a fashion designer and philanthropist, told the Boston Globe Names column Friday, ‘Unfortunately, we’re very reactive as a society,’ while graduate Tommy Giles was quoted in a written teaser on FoxNews calling it a ‘joke.’
Giles, who graduated with a degree in communication studies yesterday, told The News today he did not think the move was a ‘joke’ and he felt he was misrepresented in the FoxNews teaser. But he said he felt the university mishandled the situation, causing negative light to be cast on the ceremony.
‘You almost feel like the authorities think … ‘don’t touch us.’ It doesn’t look good in that regard,’ Giles said. ‘You go to the school for five years — I would think that they would have taken a different approach.
‘Here’s an idea:’ How about you shake hands, you just don’t lick your fingers afterwards?’ he said.
Vice President for Marketing and Communications Mike Armini said officials decided to send the e-mail Thursday after University Health & Counseling Services had discussions with the CDC about ways to prevent spread of the swine flu. Officials considered moves ranging from canceling Commencement to forgoing the handshake, he said.
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He said the notion that the move was made to strictly protect the upper administration was false.
‘It was for everyone’s benefit, because if you were the 400th person to shake the same dean’s hand, then that may not be good from a public health point of view,’ he said. ‘That argument doesn’t really make sense to me because it goes both ways.’
Despite the e-mail, some students shook hands with deans upon receiving their diplomas, but most did not. Giles pointed to Vice President for Student Affairs Ed Klotzbier, who gave hugs and handshakes to students during the ceremony, as an example of how he felt all faculty and administrators should have acted.
Armini told The News today he felt the university ‘absolutely’ made the right decision in sending the e-mail Thursday.
‘The CDC website makes it clear that touching particularly with the hands is one of the best ways to spread this virus,’ he said, adding that forgoing the handshake ‘was a very easy thing for people to do that reduced direct contact. There’s really no cost to discouraging the handshake, but there may be a tremendous upside if it prevents any kind of a spread of the virus.’
Some students, however, said the university overreacted.
‘It was a precaution, but they had us all corralled in the back, so if one of us had it then all of us had it,’ graduate Leigh-Ann Plack said minutes after receiving a diploma for a physical therapy degree yesterday. ‘I think it was silly, I think it was unnecessary, but if it was a precaution they were trying to take, then I guess that’s a good decision on their part.’
Caity Cross-Hansen, who graduated yesterday with a degree in American Sign Language, shared Plack’s view, calling the university’s move ‘funny.’ So did graduate Gustavo Provodino, who received degrees in finance and marketing.
‘I honestly don’t see the point,’ Provodino said, ‘because [swine flu is] airborne. So either way, if you have it, people are going to catch it. A handshake doesn’t really make a difference.’
For more on yesterday’s Commencement ceremony, including coverage of Cole’s keynote speech, check out Wednesday’s regular edition of The News, available online and at newsstands on campus.
