LEWISTON — Bates College seniors are to graduate Thursday in a commencement ceremony that echoes the past, but diverts sharply from some traditions as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be felt on campus.

This year’s version is set to take place, as tradition dictates, on the steps of the old Coram Library building, facing the Historic Quad.

But instead of single ceremony, the senior class will be divided into two groups, one graduating in the morning and the other in the afternoon, with each version closely matching the other.

Instead of a traditional commencement speaker, there will be four of them — including Lewiston native Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia — and they will appear via recorded video.

The other three receiving honorary degrees with Chouinard are Vanessa German, an artist; Chase Strangio, a transgender rights activist and lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union; and musician Rhiannon Giddens.

Two student speakers will be live at the podium. Both Nicole Kumbula and Munashe Machoko, each of them from Zimbabwe, will talk about their experiences at Bates.

The morning ceremony is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., the afternoon ceremony at 3 p.m.

Seating is limited and ticketed to control the number of people in attendance. Members of the public will not allowed at either ceremony.

The ceremony can be watched online, either on Bates’ website  or on its Facebook page.

Last year, when the campus was closed to fend off the new coronavirus, commencement was held online only, a first for the college that officials hope they never must repeat.

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