Texas State University began honoring students who died with posthumous degrees at commencement ceremonies last summer. 

For a family to receive a posthumous degree for a deceased student, a family member may contact the dean of the college the student was enrolled in, according to the Office of the University Registrar. If the student met at least two-thirds or 80 hours of their degree requirements, then the University Registrar would process a diploma and notation on their transcript, and the dean’s office can pick up the diploma and diploma cover for the family to receive. 
 

“As you can imagine, there are a lot of details involved there, and we want to be sensitive to the families and make sure they are comfortable and that everyone else in attendance is also comfortable with that type of presentation,” Kristin McDaniel, commencement coordinator, said.
 

Previously, the ceremonies were more private. The college or graduate dean would invite the student’s family to a private diploma presentation ceremony, which was not tied to commencement, or offer to directly mail the diploma. Texas State President Kelly Damphousse brought the idea of giving families the option of having public ceremonies from his previous institution. Commencement then reached out to other universities to see what they have done to make the ceremony meaningful for the families. 

“We invite their families to participate in commencement, and if they don’t want to, we can certainly do something more private, but they’re given the chance to come to attend,” Laramie McWilliams, senior associate dean of students and student ombudsperson, said. 

Commencement has two common options for families. The first is to call the student’s name prior to the awarding of the current graduates and have a few family members cross the stage and receive the diploma from the president. The second is to call the student’s name while the family sits in the audience and does not walk across. However, families are not limited to those options. 

“It can be a very personalized experience,” McDaniel said. “I don’t want to list them all, and then people feel like they’re restricted to those things because we do have some other less popular options that a family can do just based on how comfortable they are with it.”  

There will be eight families who have had public ceremonies since its implementation — two last summer, two last fall and four this spring. McWilliams works closely with the families and acts as their central communicator through the experience to ease any processes they have to do with the university, from figuring out which commencement ceremony the family wants to coordinating the smaller reception with the president and dean.  

“My favorite part is getting to hear stories about who [the students] are,” McWilliams said. “I take my role really seriously and in learning about these students, and I feel like I get to carry that with me. So, we listen to their stories and let them hear about the university.” 

McWilliams got to know the family of Matthew James Jaimes, for whom the university held his posthumous degree ceremony during the fall 2024 commencement. When McWilliams suggested the idea to the family, Julia Jaimes, Matthew’s mother, believed it would honor his name and help the family have closure. 

“Everybody grieves differently,” Jaimes said. “I could say one thing and the next family might say another, but as far as us being San Martians, it was a great honor, and I thank this university.”