At most colleges, commencement marks the end of a journey. At Manna University, it does more than that; it brings a community together that, for many students, has only existed online until that moment.
Commencement matters everywhere. Full stop. But at Manna University, it carries a different kind of weight for graduates, faculty, and staff alike.
To begin with, commencement isn’t a singular event, it’s a weekend.
It starts with Chrio, a convocation service that sets the tone for everything that follows. The evening begins with the recognition of hard-earned achievements and then moves into something more personal: a time of prayer with, for, and over graduates.
As a primarily online, Christian university, students expect prayer to be part of the experience at Manna. But this night is different.
For many graduates, this is the first time they are in the same room with people they’ve only seen in Zoom squares or email signatures. These are classmates they’ve learned alongside, encouraged, and perhaps debated with but never physically met.
Now here they are.
Conversations that once lived in discussion boards become face-to-face interactions. Students have the opportunity to pray with one another in person. This is something that carries a different kind of weight when you are no longer separated by a screen.
The same is true for faculty. The leader of a prayer group is often a professor a student has had for multiple courses. Now, instead of a discussion post or a Zoom call, there is space for real conversation, encouragement, and prayer. These moments are not accidental. They are intentionally planned.
They allow students to see and understand their place within the Manna University community, not as isolated individuals completing courses, but as part of something larger. Each graduate is not the whole story, but one thread in a much larger tapestry designed to help them grow into their calling before being sent out.
That sense of purpose carries into the commencement ceremony the following day.
Like many institutions, graduates gather, receive their regalia, walk through the ceremony, and take their official photo with the president. There is structure, order, and celebration of academic achievement.
But there is also something more.
During the ceremony, attention is given not only to what students have accomplished, but to the season of preparation they have walked through. After diplomas are received and hands are shaken, a final commissioning is given.
This is not just a closing remark; it is a charge.
It serves as a reminder of what graduates have spent the last several years pursuing, and it calls them forward to live with intention: to lead, to serve, and to step into the work they have been equipped to do.
Through this weekend, Manna University sets itself apart by creating an experience that does more than celebrate academic achievement. It reinforces purpose.
Graduates leave not only recognized for what they have completed but reminded of why it mattered in the first place.
Jaemi Serrano, Registrar Director of Special Learning Needs