Clemson President Jim Clements announced Friday, Clemson University has canceled all Homecoming events this year. Clemson Football still plans to play Syracuse on that Saturday, which is scheduled for Oct. 24 at Memorial Stadium.

“We have made the difficult decision to cancel Homecoming activities originally scheduled for Oct. 23-24, including Tigerama and the annual Homecoming parade and float build,” Clements wrote on the University’s website. “I realize that Homecoming is an exciting time for our students and alumni, and that it represents many of the best aspects of the Clemson experience.

“However, our top priority remains completing a successful fall semester. As a result, some events and activities will continue to be held virtually or postponed due to significantly reduced capacities and physical distancing guidelines.”

Clements wrote that Clemson is in the process of testing all students for COVID-19 before they return to on-campus instruction this coming Monday, and so far the results have been encouraging.

More than 4,000 students tested from Sept. 11-13, the first three days of on-campus move-in, less than one percent of students tested positive. Those students are currently in our quarantine and isolation protocol.

Clements said testing of off-campus students began in earnest this past Monday and while higher rates of positivity are to be expected from this group, the initial results are also encouraging. Of the more than 8,000 results Clemson has received from those students tested Monday-Wednesday of this week, only 3.5 percent were positive for COVID-19.

“We still expect to see an increase in positive cases over the next couple of weeks as we ramp up activities on campus, but these initial results indicate that our students have taken seriously the calls to adhere to best practices around face coverings, social distancing and hand-washing,” he wrote. “Now is not the time to get complacent, however. I encourage all our students and employees to continue to exercise responsible behaviors so that we can enjoy a successful semester.”

Commencement Ceremonies set for November

Clements also reported ceremonies for Clemson’s May and August graduates have been rescheduled for Nov. 13-15 at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville.

“We had hoped to hold ceremonies on campus at Memorial Stadium, but the move to November necessitated that we relocate to an indoor venue,” he said. “Specifics will be forthcoming soon, but we anticipate holding multiple ceremonies to account for proper distancing requirements.

“We have used this venue for commencement in the past when Littlejohn Coliseum was unavailable and the team at Bon Secours did an outstanding job. We’re excited to finally be able to honor our newest graduates in-person and we are already hard at work making it a memorable event. We also hope to have details about our December commencement soon.”

—Clemson University Communications contributed to this story

A great gift for any Tiger fan. Just one of many great items available from Clemson Variety & Frame