This year's traditional graduation walk-through the University of Santo Tomas' Welcome Arch were conducted via Minecraft due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
THE 2021 graduates of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) were sent off at the UST Minecraft server on Friday, July 23.
Face-to-face graduation rites are still not allowed due to the Covid-19 pandemic but that did not stop the Class of 2021 Thomasians to celebrate their graduation and march through the Arch of the Centuries.
Virtually, both of these graduation traditions were fulfilled through the school’s Minecraft online recreation of the Grandstand, Parade Ground, and the Arch of the Centuries.
UST Minecraft founder Charles Nobleza told the Varsitarian that the Office for Student Affairs (OSA) and Tiger Media Network (TMN) proposed the idea of utilizing the UST Minecraft server as an alternative to the traditional exit through the Arch of the Centuries.
However, not all of the students were able to attend the virtual send-off.
Only one representative per section was allowed, citing the server’s limit of 500 to 600 users.
Tradition dictates every student should pass under the arch during the Welcome Walk, a tour of the campus for freshmen.
The ceremony is repeated during their graduation.
photo from University of Santo Tomas
There is a superstition that whoever walks under the Arch outside of these two cases may invite trouble in their studies.
The UST Minecraft server was last used to welcome freshmen during the Thomasian Welcome Walk at the beginning of Academic Year 2020-2021.
The school has yet to announce if this will also be the case for the incoming freshmen for the next Academic Year.
Tags: #UniversityOfSantoTomas, #GraduationWalk, #Minecraft, #Covid19, #virtualgraduation