They will not get to share in the memories synonymous with college graduation the collective tossing of caps, the hugs from friends and the walk across the stage to get their diplomas.
They will get Oprah Winfrey, who Facebook said this week will address graduates in a virtual commencement ceremony on May 15.
This is a bittersweet time for the Class of 2020, Marne Levine, a Facebook vice president, wrote on the social media platform on Tuesday. They are commencing at a time of great uncertainty. But graduating is a tremendous achievement, and worth pausing to celebrate even in these circumstances.
Graduates will also get LeBron James, whose foundation is organizing a prime-time special that will feature musicians, cultural icons, and athletes including Megan Rapinoe, Pharrell Williams, Malala Yousafzai, the Jonas Brothers and Bad Bunny.
This will be a moment to come together as one nation to applaud this rite of passage, the organizers of Graduate Together: America Honors the Class of 2020, said in a statement. The organizers also include Entertainment Industry Foundation and the XQ Institute.
In a statement, Mr. James said he wanted to help create a show that would help ease the pain the coronavirus has had on the more than 3 million seniors who will be missing out on a traditional graduation ceremony and their families.
These students have worked incredibly hard for this and theres no way we can let that go unrecognized, he said. While this wont be the graduation experience they were supposed to get, we hope we can still give them something special because they deserve it.
The special will air on May 16 on ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC and on social media.
Ms. Winfreys commencement speech will be broadcast at 2 p.m. Eastern time, or 11 a.m. Pacific time, a day earlier on Facebook and Instagram, which are part of the same social media company.
Oprah will also be joining hundreds of other celebrities starting Friday evening including Julia Roberts, Quincy Jones, Yo-Yo Ma, Naomi Campbell, Alanis Morissette and former President George W. Bush who will gather online for The Call to Unite, a 24-hour charity event to raise money for Covid-19 relief.
Ms. Winfrey is not the only celebrity who has been enlisted to give students a proper send-off.
Simone Biles, the reigning Olympic gold medalist in the all-around gymnastics competition, will also take part in the Facebook virtual graduation, as will the actresses Awkwafina and Jennifer Garner and the musicians Lil Nas X and Miley Cyrus.
The radio giant iHeartMedia is also choreographing a series of star-studded graduation speech podcasts that will feature Hillary Clinton, Jimmy Fallon, Chelsea Handler and others.
Even the Anheuser-Busch-owned beer brand Natural Light is getting involved in the virtual festivities. The brand announced that it would hold a virtual commencement ceremony on May 14, headlined by the billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, the actress Jane Lynch and the sports commentator Stephen A. Smith.
Oprah is not the only Chicagoan who has been highly sought as a graduation speaker. So has former President Barack Obama, whom one graduating senior, in a widely shared tweet, tried to recruit to give a national commencement address.
It drew nearly 50,000 retweets, but no public response from the former president.
Link:
Oprah Winfrey to Give Commencement Address on Facebook - The New York Times
