Butler County Community College's Class of 2020 graduates will celebrate their achievement during an August 1st drive-thru commencement that will be 1.2 miles long.

The event begins at 10 a.m. on BC3's main campus in Butler Township.

The Class of 2020 includes 563 students receiving associate degrees, or certificates or workplace certificates that take one year or less to complete.

Graduates who attended BC3's main campus or its satelite locations in Armstrong, Butler, Jefferson, Lawrence or Mercer counties and registered for commencement should bring their mortarboard, gown, tassel and degree cover to the ceremony.

BC3 grads who register for the drive-thru commencement, which is expected to last all day, will be informed of their designated arrival time by email.Only one vehicle is requested per graduate, and the college highly recommends the graduate not be the driver.

Students and guests can enter BC3's College Drive from Decatur Drive. Graduates will later exit their vehicle at a designated station and proceed across a stage to have their name, degree, program and academic honors announced.

Photographs and videos will be taken of graduates on the stage. Additionally, participants can also view short commencement videos on their phones and from within their vehicle.

Videos will include a welcome from Lindsay Lanigan, president of the BC3 faculty organization; a greeting from BC3 alum Joseph E. Kubit, an attorney and chair of BC3's board of trustees, and Kimberly Geyer, a Butler County commissioner and ex-officio member of BC3's board of trustees; and a keynote speech from John Reddick, a BC3 graduate and architect at Stantec in Butler.

Additional videos will feature the conferring of the degree fromNick Neupauer, BC3 president, and Belinda Richardson, BC3 vice-president for academic affairs; and addresses from 2020 graduates Teresa Kuo and Laura Gutauskas.

Messages of congratulations and of encouragement from the BC3 community will be posted on a board. There will also be an instant photograph booth andselfie area near the Conestoga wagon on campus.

Appropriate COVID-19 safety precautions will be in place and enforced. Participants should exit vehicles only at designated stations and maintain six feet of social distance between others.

For those unable to attend, a compilation video of commencement will be available later at www.bc3.edu/2020grad.

William Foley is coordinator of news and media content at Butler County Community College.