The University of Hawaii-Maui College commencement ceremony has been moved to Saturday and will include a drive-thru on-campus event.

Last month, it had been announced that a virtual ceremony would take place today.

“Given the current status of our island and the reopening to some extent, we felt like we were able to offer something a little closer along the lines of having our traditional graduation on campus,” said UH-MC Director of Student Life Al Paschoal on Tuesday.

The drive-thru ceremony will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday for the school’s 612 graduates. Then, there will be a virtual ceremony beginning at 5:30 p.m. for approximately two hours.

Today is the final day to register for graduates who wish to participate in the drive-thru ceremony. They can RSVP at the website maui.hawaii.edu/commencement. The general public will be able to log in to the livestream of the drive-thru and virtual ceremonies.

Graduates are limited to one car for the ceremony and will be the only ones who will be allowed to exit the vehicle, although several photo opportunities will be available, Paschoal said.

“No semi-trucks, unfortunately, because we won’t be able to handle that, but go ahead and fit as many into that car comfortably and safely,” Paschoal said.

UH-MC Chancellor Lui Hokoana will host the virtual ceremony and state Rep. Troy Hashimoto will be among the speakers. UH President David Lassner and Vice President for Community Colleges Erika Lacro also will be part of the virtual ceremony.

Kuikawa and Kahalawai will be among the musical groups to perform.

“We just decided to do this on Friday,” Paschoal said. “We are moving it to Saturday to be able to incorporate this drive-thru portion. We didn’t want to have it on Wednesday at 9 in the morning when family members are working, so we made that decision in order to incorporate more family participation.

“It’s the voice of our students. We want our students to know that they are being heard, and we are going to do whatever we can to get them as close as possible to a traditional ceremony.”

The drive-thru ceremony will be livestreamed on the school website and allow the graduates to walk up on stage, receive their diploma, take pictures and have an opportunity to give a short speech when they come off the stage.

* Robert Collias can be reached at rcollias@mauinews.com.