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RMU To Send New Diplomas After Students Say Their Majors Were Removed Without Public Input

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) - Recent RMU graduates will be getting new diplomas after they say changes were made without their input.

Robert Morris graduates told KDKA they started receiving their diplomas at the end of January, but after 100 years of educating, the diplomas look different than the rest.

Students told KDKA an email was sent out about the change at the end of December without public input.

RMU Diploma
(Photo Credit: Provided)

"At the end of your college experience, after you've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars, your diploma is what you have to show for it. That's what you are going to hang up on your wall," student Tyler Stewart said.

Now on Tuesday, a letter from Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Mary Ann Rafoth says the university has heard the students and will put things back to the way they were before.

Rafoth says the change was made in the first place "to make diplomas more uniform across all our degree programs and to bring the university in line with best practices in higher education and the requirements of our governing bodies."

The letter says RMU will continue to put the names of students' majors on their diploma "in a manner that ensures we meet all accreditation requirements while still providing recognition for the program in which you have earned your degree."

Students who graduated in December 2020 will get a free replacement diploma from the university. Those will be mailed in the coming weeks.

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