Although the May commencement event for graduating seniors at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, was canceled in response to the Chinese virus pandemic, university officials announced this week that separate online graduation ceremonies for LGBT, international, and minority students will proceed as originally scheduled.

According to a report by Campus Reform, St. Olaf College will host virtual graduation ceremonies for LGBT, international, and minority students in May. The college announced recently that May commencement events for graduating seniors have been canceled due to the ongoing Chinese virus pandemic.

In an email to the community, college officials announced that “self-identified domestic students of color, international students and LGBTQIA+ students” will receive separate, virtual, commencement ceremonies in May. There will be three separate virtual graduation events, each of which will focus on a separate group of students. “Students of color,” international students, and LGBT students are the three groups that will be recognized during their own virtual graduation ceremonies in May.

St. Olaf College has not made any plans for an online ceremony for graduating seniors who don’t fall under one of the specific groups that will enjoy its own event.

Breitbart News has reported extensively on the rise of separate ceremonies for minority students. Breitbart News reported in June 2019 that UC Berkeley was scheduled to host 10 separate orientation ceremonies for students from various backgrounds.

In 2017, Harvard announced that it would host its first separate graduation ceremony for its black students. Since then, colleges and universities around the country have adopted the tradition as standard practice.

“We really wanted an opportunity to give voice to the voiceless at Harvard,” a Harvard official told the Associated Press at the time. “So many students identify with the African diaspora but don’t necessarily feel welcome as part of the larger community, and they don’t feel like their stories are being shared.”

Stay tuned to Breitbart News for more campus updates.