BATON ROUGE- LSU will hold the 2020 August commencement ceremony online after exploring several different possibilities, the university announced Thursday afternoon.

The virtual ceremony will take place on Friday, August 7, and diplomas will be mailed to students.

"We know this news will disappoint many of our graduates and their families, but the safety of our LSU community is our utmost priority. We still pledge to hold in-person commencement ceremonies at a later date for all those who did not get to have one – either in May or in August – and we will communicate those plans to you as soon as possible. But since we don’t know what phase of recovery Louisiana will be in by August 7, since many of you have been asking us about the August ceremony in order to make plans, and since we want to err on the side of caution while we are preparing to reopen for the fall, we have decided that a virtual ceremony is the best option for everyone’s safety at this time."

"For those who graduated in May, and were hoping to walk across the stage in August, you have our heartfelt apologies that we are again delaying your ceremony. We will continue to update you on our plans moving forward. To all those who will be graduating in August, please know that this announcement doesn’t take anything away from your accomplishments throughout your time at LSU. Once you complete your degree requirements, you will be an LSU graduate as of that date and we will send your diploma in the mail so you won’t have to wait to receive it. We also hope you’ll join us for the virtual graduation ceremony on LSU’s Facebook page at 10 a.m. on Friday, August 7. The virtual ceremony we held in May was well received and had more than 82,000 views, and we plan to make the August virtual ceremony just as special."

All 2020 graduates are urged to fill out a form to ensure diplomas are mailed to the correct address. Click here for the form.